


Who laughs last

by LizzieOktambe



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies), The Hunger Games (Movies) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Happy Ending, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-04 22:43:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6678328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzieOktambe/pseuds/LizzieOktambe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coriolanus Snow was an asshole. Everybody knew it, including his three daughters- Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta and Katniss Everdeen. You would think one stops being an asshole the day he dies, but for Coriolanus Snow, even death wasn't an obstacle. Based on a novel Montana Sky by Nora Roberts with use of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games characters, a story of three sisters who have to deal with life, love and even crime in the middle of a ridiculously strange situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> |AN|: Hello there guys! Does anyone of you know what's my favorite book? Well some of you would probably say it is one of The Hunger Games trilogy, some of you would say that it's one of the Harry Potter books, but the truth is slightly different. As much as I adore THG trilogy and HP series and I really adore them A LOT, there is a book that warmed it's way into my heart a long time ago and never left it. The book was written by an amazing author named Nora Roberts and is called Montana Sky. If anyone of you wants to read a great funny/ sad/ thrilling/ romantic story, Montana Sky is just what you need. Why is the fanfic labeled The Hunger Games you may ask? Well, let's just say I took Katniss and Peeta and Gale and Johanna and Annie and Finnick and Haymitch and a lot of other THG characters and decided to play with them and fit them into the world of Montana Sky. So far, I've been having a blast like never before. I hope you'll enjoy this story as much as I do, because if you don't it will break my heart into pieces. Please review and like and tell me everything you think of this story. That will really mean a lot to me!
> 
> Disclaimer: Anything you can recognize comes form either The Hunger Games or Montana Sky everything that you don't comes from me. The plot ideas mostly belong to Nora Roberts, the characters to Suzanne Collins. This story, because of containing a lot of somebody else's work will never be turned into original work to not be accused of plagiarism.

Everyone in Montana knew that finding another person as fucked up as Coriolanus Snow would be considered a miracle… or a tragedy, really. That's exactly why Katniss Everdeen couldn't really find a person who attended his funeral because they truly cared for him.

She too wasn't really mourning; what caused her to have a hard time was deciding if she should be proud or disappointed in herself for not feeling too bad about her father's death.

Yes, Coriolanus Snow was Katniss' father and yes, she hated him and loved him at the same time.

She startled at a gentle touch of a tiny hand on her arm.

"I'm so sorry Katniss," said Primrose Mellark, a tiny 13-years-old girl. She was a daughter of the owner of the second biggest ranch in Montana- Three Meadows Ranch. Primrose was probably the sweetest child Katniss has ever met. She was gentle and kind and couldn't stand the thought of an animal being harmed. Prim, as family and friends called her, was also incapable of hating people, so Katniss was almost sure that she was the one who insisted on being present at the funeral and dragged her father along.

"Thanks Prim. I'm glad you came, even if my father never deserved it," replied Katniss, planting a gentle kiss on the girl's head. She used to babysit her when she was younger.

"Maybe your father didn't, but you do." Was Prim's only reply as she moved away to let her father envelope Katniss in a bone-crushing hug. It took her a long moment to understand what the little blonde meant, but when she did, she felt like crying for the first time that day.

"I'm sorry Katniss, how are you holding up?" asked the big blond rancher. His eyes were filled with genuine concern and the fact that this good man cared for her so much warmed her heart.

"Surprisingly relieved, for someone who just buried their father." She answered truthfully causing Mr. Mellark to send a gentle smile her way.

"Because we're not supposed to be saying anything bad about the dead, I'm just gonna say that I'm looking forward to doing business with you now, Katniss," he replied and this time it was her turn to smile.

She loved her father, even despite his harshness. Maybe she would even mourn him later, when there's nobody watching, but she wouldn't cry and she wouldn't grieve, because he would never, ever care if she was the one laying in the ground instead of him.

"Thank you, Mr. Mellark, for caring enough to come today. I know you hated my old man. Everybody did, but I also know that you and Prim are two of those very few people who came here without any hidden agenda."

"Oh Katniss, of course we came. The boys wanted to be here too, you know. But Delly went into labor in the morning and…" He didn't get to finish the sentence.

"Oh my God, Delly's in labor? What are you still doing here? Go! Go see her, be with your family!" exclaimed Katniss, suddenly feeling so much better. She loved Delly dearly and was very happy when she found out that the sweet addition to Mellark family was with child, so now she was delighted to find out that the baby girl is about to be born. Mr. Mellark chuckled lightly and kissed both of Katniss' cheeks.

"You're family too, my dear. The fact that you aren't mine doesn't change anything." He replied and with a final squeeze left her side with Prim following closely behind him.

***W*L*L***

"What are you doing here, girl?" asked Sae coming into Katniss' room without knocking. Sae was a rather plump, middle-aged woman who had been the housekeeper in Snow's Mansion for as long as Katniss could remember. She was a bit stern sometimes and very demanding, but she was a very good person and cared for Katniss more than her own father ever did. "Everyone is looking for you in your father's office. They're about to read the will. Plus, you should really just go up to your sisters and at least try to talk to them…"

"They are not my sisters, Sae," she cut in harshly. "The fact that we share a father doesn't necessarily make me want to meet them."

"Oh, Katniss. Don't judge them before you even look at them properly. You avoided their eyes for the whole funeral," commented Sae sternly.

"Oh, I looked at them all right." Replied Katniss whipping her head to look at Sae so hard that she smacked herself in the face with her thick brown braid. "The younger one looks scared of her own shadow and the elder- like she wants to murder somebody." She added throwing on a flannel shirt.

"And right now, young lady, you look like a stubborn petulant child and I know you're better than this. So you move your bum down there. The sooner you're there, the sooner it's done."

Katniss sighed loudly and sat on the bed hiding her face in her hands.

"I just don't want any of this, Sae." She started in an unnaturally weak voice. "I don't want them to be here, I don't want all of those people downstairs eating and drinking and talking shit about my father. I don't want any of this damn commotion. There's work to do. It's a ranch. I can't really let myself fall behind on work. Those men, my father's men… MY men, are going to look at my hands all the time now. Do you really think they're going to be just fine with the fact that a woman is running the ranch now? My father was an asshole, but he was a damn good rancher. They're not gonna accept any less." Sae shook her head a couple of times and sat beside Katniss, grabbing her chin lightly and turning it towards her.

"Listen to me, child and listen carefully," she started in the gentle maternal voice she used very rarely. "You are a very strong young woman, the strongest I've ever met. When I look at you I see your mother. You are as beautiful as she was, but your character is more your father's. You are strong, you are a leader, you have your head firmly on your shoulders. But you are also kind and gentle and loving. You're all those things your father decided not to be because he considered it a weakness. But the truth is Katniss that those things are only making you stronger and better and those men know it too. I believe that with you running the ranch, it's gonna hit its golden times, Katniss. You're gonna be the one who makes it better and if anybody thinks differently only because you're a woman, they are damn fools," said Sae and brushed her thumbs under Katniss' eyes. She didn't even notice that a couple of tears escaped from her eyes, but when she did she wiped the remains of them with her sleeve. She kissed Sae's slightly wrinkled cheek and whispered a quiet thank you into her ear.

"Don't thank me, but go downstairs and do what you have to do. After that you can just go and do all the stuff you claim are so important they can't wait," she added making Katniss smile slightly as she left the room.

"Poor baby," sighed Sae to herself as Katniss' slight form disappeared down the stairs. She knew that under the hard shell there was a delicate flower that was Katniss' soul. A fragile thing that felt and mourned and was very easy to break.

When Sae started to work for Coriolanus Snow she never thought she would spend the better part of her life on this ranch. He wasn't a bad boss, but he was a terrible person to be around. She wanted to quit the job for the first time a couple of months after she started it, but then a beautiful young woman fell in love with the rancher and not so long after that she gave him a cute little daughter. Ophelia Mason was a good, cheerful, full of life woman. She was a bit proud and loud at times, but she liked the ranch and surprisingly she loved its owner enough to want to marry him and carry his child. She even had a good influence on Snow. He seemed calmer and more polite when she was around, but when his first child turned out to be a girl… Let's just say Snow always wanted a son, so the little blond Johanna wasn't really his dream- child. A couple of weeks after Johanna was born, Ophelia left Coriolanus' office with tears in her eyes. After an hour she was all packed and she and the child left with only a thank you and a brief kiss to Sae's cheek.

The same happened two years later with sweet, gentle Lily Cresta. She was so different from Coriolanus' first wife. She was quiet and shy and it seemed strange she fell in love with someone like Snow, but apparently the dangerously beautiful bastard was someone who was not only incredibly handsome, but could also charm women into falling for him. History likes to repeat itself, so when Lily gave birth to beautiful baby girl with eyes like an ocean and a tuft of red hair on her little head, soon enough they both- Lily and little Annie, left at night without a word.

A year after this Coriolanus found himself a third wife, the one whom Sae definitely liked the most of all. She had something of an Indian in her, something mysterious and almost magical. She was uncommonly beautiful too with her long brown hair, her olive skin and eyes a color of rich chocolate. She was so beautiful, Sae thought, that for the first time Snow was the one who fell for the woman first, and fell for her so hard he didn't even care that she already had a child. Ethel Everdeen looked like a fairy on her wedding day, and her little four- year old son Gale was one of the most precious things Sae's seen in her entire life. A year later, little Katniss came to this world, but she didn't get to know her wonderful mother. Ethel Everdeen died a few hours after she gave life to her beautiful daughter, leaving her and her older brother with a man who never really wanted neither of them. So Katniss grew on the ranch, loved by Sae, who tried to raise her as well as she could; Haymitch- a rancher who she attached herself to and practically never left his side; and Gale Hawthorne- her elder brother who loved her more than anything on the planet and received the love right back.

All three daughters- Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta and Katniss Everdeen- were fortunate enough to grow up among people who loved them dearly, but neither of them was loved by their father. A father who even refused to give them his name.

TBC...


	2. The Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I wanted to thank everyone who decided to start the journey with me, especially those of you, who were kind enough to leave a review, letting me know what do you think of the story so far. It really means a lot for an author- even a poor one :P- to have the support of other people. So thank you again for that. I hope the second chapter won't be disappointing. Let me know what you think.

Never ever before had Katniss seen so many people at the same time occupying her father's office. There were five people there, seated at the round table in the middle of the room, seven now as she arrived with Sae in tow.

Right at the head of the table, where her father always used to seat, if he was having more than one guest at once, sat Finnick Odair- Katniss' friend and neighbor, who also happened to finish a law school not so long ago. When asked by Katniss, he agreed without hesitation to be the one to read her father's will. Gale was sitting by his right side and chatting with him quietly. They were friends since the day Gale arrived at Snow Rocks alongside his mother. Annie Cresta, Katniss' middle sister, who looked slightly scared and very tense, sat next to Katniss' brother, while the other sister- Johanna Mason occupied a seat across the table, right next to Finnick. She looked so done with this place, that Katniss would have laughed out loud if she weren't so damn nervous. Haymitch- a middle-aged rancher, from whom Katniss learned everything she knew, was calmly taking in the scene. He was sitting next to Johanna, but his head whipped towards the door as he heard it open and send a wink Katniss' way as if trying to make her less nervous.

"Hey Katniss!" Exclaimed Finnick as soon as he noticed her arrival "Sae." He added with a tip of his hat as a form of greeting to the older lady. He gave Katniss a gentle hug as she approached him. "I'm sorry I couldn't be at the funeral." He whispered lowly and Katniss shook her head as if trying to say that she wasn't expecting him to be. "One of my horses got the colic and I had to stay and deal with it." He added regretfully.

"It's fine Finn, really." She replied and squeezed his hand. "So… can we start, now and be done with it?" She asked looking around the room for confirmation.

"Oh, not really. We have to wait for one more person." Answered Finnick, making Katniss knit her brows in confusion.

"Who?" She asked, but didn't have to wait long for the answer as the door opened slightly and a mop of blond, curly hair peeked out from behind it.

"Come, come Peeta." Said Finnick, beckoning the young rancher with a hand gesture. "We were waiting for you." He added as Peeta Mellark slid into the already crowded room and shut the door gently behind him.

"Sorry I'm late, but I had no idea I'd be called here today." He said casting a glance around the room, his eyes stopping only when they found Katniss. He smiled towards her and approached her slowly as if he was afraid he'd startle her.

"I'm sorry about your dad, Katniss." He offered in deep, gentle voice and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I wasn't at the funeral but…"

"Yeah, I know." Interrupted Katniss, a bit more harshly than she intended. "Delly went into labor. How is she, by the way?" She asked and dared to look up, directly into Peeta's startlingly blue eyes.

Peeta Mellark was the middle child of the Mellark family and, as Katniss used to call them when they were kids, one of the three musketeers, alongside Gale and Finnick. Katniss always liked Finnick and Peeta enough to try to join them when the three of them were playing together. The fact that they were Gale's best friends, only made her more certain that they're the perfect company to be around. In little Katniss' mind, when Gale liked someone they had to be the best kids on the planet. Katniss, Gale, Finnick and Peeta all stayed friends till this day, but Katniss' relationship with Peeta Mellark was never the same after the events of her eighteenth birthday.

That day her oh-so-loving-father offered Katniss' hand with the addition of some land and a couple of cows to a flabbergasted Peeta. She was never more humiliated in her entire life and since then, she'd never had the courage to look at Peeta the same way. He declined the proposal and the fact that she didn't know if she should or shouldn't feel hurt because of it, made her hate herself a bit. She never thought about marrying anybody, including Peeta Mellark, but it kind of hurt her that he so easily decided he didn't want to marry her.  
The thing was, she felt even more insecure now, when Peeta was there, because she could never really know, what her father would be able to do, even from his grave, to join together the two biggest ranches in Montana.

"She was still in labor when Finn called and I had to leave, but I don't think it's gonna be long now." He replied, clearly excited and Katniss couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. "Rye was so nervous when it started, that I thought he's gonna faint and I'd have to deal with both of them. That would be fun." He added, successfully defusing the tension in the room and causing everybody, even Johanna, to chuckle. "Why am I here though, Finnick?" He asked looking towards his friend, clearly confused.

"I was going to ask exactly the same question." Added Katniss and Finnick motioned to everybody to sit down. Katniss sat with Haymitch on her right side and Peeta on the left.

"You're all gonna find out in a minute. Now that we're all here, I think we can begin."

***W*L*L***

"Oh, that's some serious bullshit." Yelled Katniss at the startling news of how little Sae, Haymitch and especially Gale were going to get. "Sea and Haymitch had worked here since I can remember and Gale had been working his ass on this ranch since he barely could walk. What the fuck is that?" She yelled standing up and, in her rage, almost knocking over the table.

"Katniss…" The voice was Gale's, but the calming hand grabbing her arm was Peeta's. "No!" She shouted throwing daggers towards her brother and shrugging off Peeta's hand. "Don't you 'Katniss' me, Gale! That bastard made you work for him your whole fucking life and now, the only thing he's leaving you is a couple of smelly dollars? You at least should have been given your cottage and the horses! And Sae and Haymitch…"

"Katniss." This time it was Finnick who cut in. "I know you are… outraged right now, but you can't really discuss with the will. I'm sorry." He explained causing Katniss to fall back onto her seat. She had never in her life felt so defeated.

"As long as you don't kick us out of here sweetheart, we are gonna be okay." Added Haymitch half-jokingly trying to defuse the tension, but Katniss send him an angry look.

"Of course I'm never gonna kick none of you out of here but it's still unfair. You deserve so much more." She replied, resigned as Haymitch patted her back with affection.

"This brings us to Coriolanus' last wish." Continued Finnick and Katniss noticed his eyes go wide as he made sure to re-read the text in front of him a couple of times. He coughed and looked at Katniss with worry. She felt all the blood drain from her face at his expression. She was almost sure now that the ranch wasn't hers. He gave it to someone else.

_"Snow Rocks ranch is to be given in three equal parts to my daughters: Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta and Katniss Everdeen if the following terms are fulfilled._

_1\. Johanna Mason, Annie Cresta and Katniss Everdeen are to remain at Snow Rocks ranch for a year, starting immediately after the will is read._

_2\. Every single one of them is allowed to leave the ranch only for 72 hours a time, no more than three times during the probation year._

_3\. During the probation year, Snow Rocks shall work as usual, managed by Katniss Everdeen._

_4\. I name two supervisors: Haymitch Abernathy and Peeta Mellark, to look after the ranch's business during the probation time._

_After the year is finished, every one of my daughters is to do as she pleases with her part of the ranch, if however, any of the terms are not fulfilled, the ranch is to be given to a charity case as a new community home. This is my will, my last wish."_

A dead silence filled the room for about a minute until it was abruptly broken by Johanna Mason's hysterical laughter, that made all heads turn towards her.

"That stupid son of a bitch! If he thought I'm gonna spend a year in this smelly hole, he was more crazy than I suspected." She stated as soon as she calmed down and stood up decidedly. "I have my job, my friends, my life! Sorry everybody, but I'm out of here." She added and started towards the door, her high heels clicking loudly on the wooden floor. Katniss didn't say anything. She sat with her face in her hands consumed by something between extreme shock and resignation. She just lost everything she cared for.

"Tell her how much her part is worth, Finn." Demanded suddenly Peeta, causing Katniss to lift her head and look at him with interest. Finnick looked through the papers, flipping a couple of pages only to come to a halt after a short moment.

"About eight million dollars." He said audibly, causing Johanna to stop dead in her tracks. She looked at them, her mouth slightly agape and pivoted on her heels making her way back to her chair. This seemed to wake Katniss from her stupor and she stood up banging her fist loudly against the table.

"Three equal parts. Three equal parts my ass!" She yelled startling everybody and causing them to this time look at her. "They didn't even spend one day on this ranch. One fucking day of their lives! I spend it all here! I know what has to be done! I know every inch of this land, every branch in this woods God dammit! And now they are to be given one third of it each!? I won't fucking stand for it! Over my dead body!" She yelled causing Annie to shake like a leaf. Sae, who seated herself next to her put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Don't tempt me cow- girl." Murmured hatefully Johanna causing Katniss to whip her head in her direction.

"You blonde whore! You think you can just walk in here like a Barbie into her pink dream house and say whatever you want? Listen to me you pathetic…"

"Ladies!" This time it was Sae who yelled over Katniss' rage causing her to stop and take a couple of calming breaths.

"Damn it Finn, Katniss is right and you know it. Those terms are ridiculous and with all due respect to both ladies, they might deserve every single penny that bastard owned, but the ranch should be Katniss'." Stated Gale in a much calmer manner than his little sister.

"Gale is right Finnick." Added Peeta dragging his hand tiredly along his face."Isn't there any way to overrule this ridiculous will?" He asked hopefully only to sigh loudly when Finnick shook his head in denial.

"I'm sorry Katniss, but there really isn't. The document was written properly and your father was in the right state of mind…"

"I'm starting to seriously doubt it." Peeta cut in again.

"I'm going to stay." Said Annie so suddenly and quietly, they were barely able to hear her. She cleared her throat. "I mean for the year." She continued a bit louder. "Then I'm going to sell my part to you, Katniss. A lot cheaper than eight million dollars. I don't need so much money, but everyone is right. You deserve this ranch, so I'm going to stay."

Everyone, including Katniss, fell silent after Annie's proposition. Katniss nodded her head in thanks.

"Oh, that's just so cute." Started Johanna cutting the silence short one more time. "That is really sweet of you Annie, but if I have to spend an entire year in this hell hole, I'm getting every last penny I have a right for." She added turning to Katniss. "You can have your smelly land, brainless but I'm not going out of here without my money."

"I wouldn't dream of it, hay hair."

TBC...


	3. The Supervisors

She was devastated. There wasn't any other term to call it. She wasn't really grieving when her father died, but she started to now, when she knew that there's a large chance she's going to lose everything she holds dear.

As soon as the reading was over and everybody accepted, more or less calmly, the terms of Snow's will, Johanna was out of the house and on her way to the airport. She claimed she needs to sort out some of her "thingies" in California and take some of her stuff if she's really going to spend twelve months in this "shit pot'. Gale was nice enough to give her a ride.

Surprisingly, Annie seemed like she didn't even want to leave Snow Rocks at all. She said she has everything she needs with her and that she would just stay for as long as she need to. It was strange since she came to Montana with only a small bag. In Katniss' opinion there was something odd about Annie Cresta. She was too shy and too scared for a normal person and Katniss suspected that there was something bad happening in her life. She wasn't going to ask though, she knew that someday Annie would tell somebody and that somebody would probably be either Finnick or one of the Mellarks. They were all easy to talk to, unlike Katniss.

"Are you okay, Kat?" Asked Finnick finding Katniss leaning on the railing of the porch and staring at the woods and mountains. She turned his way and looked at him strangely. "No, don't answer that. Stupid question." He added after a moment. "I know it looks bad Katniss, but…"

"But what, Finnick?" She cut in angrily. "Don't try telling me everything is gonna be fine, because we both know it's a whole lot of bullshit." She added angrily. He lifted his hands up in an act of surrender.

"Well, I don't know about that. You realize that in opposition to you, I like to see the glass always half-filled. It might feel like nothing good is gonna come of it, Kat but someday you might find out it all turned out well. Just sayin'." Replied Finnick calmly. She looked at him and sighed loudly.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, none of this is your fault. But I just can't… " She sighed again and burrowed her face in her hands. The rest of the sentence came out muffled. " I can't lose everything."

"Katniss, listen to me," started Finnick praying Katniss' hands away from her face. "We are not going to let that happen, do you understand? Neither me nor Gale, Haymitch, Peeta and the rest of the Mellarks… hell I'm sure Sae is going to beat someone with a wooden spoon if they try to cause you to lose the ranch. We're with you Katniss and if the money won't keep your sisters here, we will find another way to make them stay." He added causing Katniss to snort loudly.

"Are we going to keep them with the horses, the cows or the pigs after we tie up and gag them?" She asked ironically, but sighed and patted Finnick's arm a couple of times after a few seconds. "Thanks anyway Finn. For your help and… for being here."

"Don't mention it. You need me, I'm here as soon as I can, but right now I really need to go to town. I have a meeting with the sheriff." He replied rolling eyes with exasperation. She knew he wasn't very fond of sheriff Cray, but unfortunately his work required regular meetings with the highly unpleasant persona. "I'm living you with Peeta though. He said he was gonna stick around for a while." He added and Katniss gritted her teeth and sat down on the rocking chair Sae used often to relax into during quiet evenings.

"What the hell was that anyway?" She asked angrily, confusing Finnick with the question. "I don't need a fucking supervisor, more so two of them. I mean… Haymitch is kinda the boss of the Snow Rocks' men, so I would ask him for advice anyway, but why the hell do I need Mellark snooping around my ranch and trying to find something I did wrong." Finncik's eyebrows rose so impossibly high, Katniss would have laughed if she weren't so pissed off. She fidgeted with her braid observing Finn's reaction.

"I don't know what the hell happened that you seem to be so… guarded and not yourself around Peeta lately, but the shit Katniss? You must know he will never do anything to cause harm to you… or anybody really. I don't know why you are acting like he's your enemy, but I can assure you he's not." Stated Finnick and took one step off the porch. "Now I really need to go. Please, try not being too harsh towards Peeta. It wasn't his choice either, you know? He didn't ask to be named the supervisor." He added and with one last wave left towards his jeep.

Katniss didn't really know herself what caused her to not be too fond of Peeta lately. It all started with the damn proposal that her father made to him three years ago. He declined it, of course and Katniss had heard that conversation, even if she wasn't supposed to. That day Peeta yelled at her father saying things she'd never heard him say before, the lightest of them being that it was simply cruel to force anybody into marriage, and then left without another word forcing the door shut with a loud smack. It was the most impolite Katniss had seen him act in her life. She was embarrassed and pissed off, not only at her father but at Peeta also. She couldn't get out of her head the idea that he declined because he thought her not suitable enough for him. The theory sounded less ridiculous when she was younger. The fact is, that they'd never really talked about it after that incident and Katniss couldn't quite look Petta in the eye after that too. She preferred avoiding him. She was good at it. Besides he was annoying. Since he grew old enough for women to notice him as more than a kid running around the Three Meadows ranch, suddenly every female in town wanted to find herself in his bed. He didn't look like he minded the attention, quite the opposite actually. He seemed to have time for every single one of them. Katniss was sure loads of those girls knew exactly how Peeta Mellark looked like naked. She wasn't going to give him a false idea, that she was like one of those girls whose biggest desire was to see the inside of his bedroom. So again, it was easier to avoid him. Now though, she would have to deal with his daily presence for an entire year. For some reason she couldn't find it in herself to just ignore him all together.

The sound of opening door startled her a little and she saw the very object of her thoughts appearing from behind it. She wouldn't lie, Peete Mellark was a damn handsome bastard, even if it was very hard for her to admit it. He wasn't a very tall men- like her brother for example- but he wasn't short either and he was well-built. That Katniss had to give him. He was strong and muscular and, oh my God he was simply hot and she hated herself for thinking that. And he was cute too. The kind of cute that made you want to take care of him for the rest of your life. He had a beautiful ocean-blue eyes and blond curls that kept falling into them, adorable cupid's bow and delicious freckles covering his nose and cheeks. And those eye-lashes. Those damn eye-lashes that she hadn't seen on any woman, even his sister, let alone man. She shook her head a little form those thoughts and cursed herself inwardly. She absolutely couldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing she kind of had the hots for him. He was cocky enough without it. She reminded herself how annoying he was and scowled at him as he approached.

"From that beautiful scowl of yours, I gather you don't want to see me at all, but I came out here to tell you that Delly had the baby." He announced and smirked a little when her expression changing to one of wonder. He knew Katniss cared for his family greatly and was happy that there was a brand new addition to it now. It was only him, for some reason, she was giving the cold shoulder to and for years now, he was trying to figure out why. "It's a boy. They named him Tony." He added causing her to chuckle loudly, especially since for months Delly and Rye kept saying it was a girl. It wasn't a confirmed information, but for some reason they just figured that the little one was a "she". Well, the baby had other plans apparently and came out as a beautiful baby boy. "The kid's going to hate them in the future, when he finds out they called him "Sarah" for nine months." Peeta commented happily and this time Katniss laughed out loud. It was very hard for her to admit it, but Peeta had a talent for defusing the tension wherever he appeared. It was a strange ability, but he was so good with words ever since he was a kid, that a couple of those, chosen wisely by him, could make a whole room relax immediately.

"I'm happy for them. When you see them tell Delly I'm going to visit her and Tony soon." She said, looking for the first time straight into his eyes. She didn't make it for long though, she just had to avert her eyes from his. "And tell Rye... 'well done'." She added after a second, looking back into the distance.

"I actually thought I would stay for a while. Figured you would need some help." Replied Peeta with a little shrug. Katniss jerked a bit at those words and turned her slight but strong form towards him.

"I don't need anybody's help, Mellark." She growled causing him to raise his eyebrows at her reaction. "Especially yours. I don't know what my father was thinking writing this damn will, but I don't care if you have to be a fucking supervisor. He named you one? Fine. I can tolerate your presence at the ranch, but know that I won't be very fond of you snooping around and commenting at everything I do at Snow Rocks." She raged. He had an expression that was kind of hard to read, but if Katniss was to guess, she would say he was simply pissed off. His brows were raised high and furrowed, his features looked like he was a bit surprised, but his eyes seemed sad. His hands, though were clenching and unclenching repeatedly at his sides.

"You know what Katniss? I don't get you. I really don't." He started, his voice raised a bit. She thought it was strange since it was very hard to make Peeta Mellark angry. "I understand that you are pissed off because of this whole will thing, but I didn't have anything to do with it so there's no reason for you to take that out on me. I didn't ask your lovely father to make me the supervisor and I certainly don't know why on earth he made me one. But I'm gonna tell you something and I'm gonna say it only once. I don't give a damn what your father wanted or not wanted this ranch to became. I don't give a damn why he named me supervisor and why he's forcing you and your sisters to stay here together for a year. He probably just enjoyed the fact that this idea is so fucked up and he laughs right now deep down in hell, seeing us so pissed off at him for it. I know one thing for sure, though and I ain't gonna change my mind about it, no matter what you think of it or what you think of me. I'm gonna turn this whole damn thing around, and if he wanted me to be the supervisor then fine. I'm gonna be one and I'm gonna do everything that I can to help you keep Snow Rocks, whether you like it or not, and then… then we will fucking see who laughs last." He stated making her a bit confused. "I don't know what made you despise me so much Katniss, because I've always treated you like a friend, but if you want to ignore me, fine. Ignore me, but I'm not gonna stop trying to help you." He added turning towards the door to leave the porch. She rolled her eyes at his back.

"Why do you even care if I have the ranch, Peeta? What's in it for you?" She asked, still slightly annoyed, but also a bit confused by his speech. He snorted at that and turned around looking at her with a small smile that wasn't reaching his eyes at all.

"I care because you've earned it Katniss, and you are one of the best ranchers I know." He answered calming down from his previous rage. "And what's in it for me? I don't know, maybe I just got used to your sunny disposition and can't imagine my life without it." He said sarcastically making her glare at him with her usual scowl. He shook his head at her behavior and disappeared back inside of the house almost running into Haymitch in the doorway. They exchanged friendly hellos as they passed each other. Everybody fucking loved Peeta Mellark, even snarky, sarcastic Haymitch who usually didn't even like people at all.

"What did you do to the boy, sweetheart?" He asked joining her at the porch. "He looks like a beaten puppy and you know how I hate violence towards animals." He added and she snorted a bit.

"That's not my fault his stupid face looks like this. I didn't do anything except letting him know I'm not very happy that he's been named my supervisor." She answered causing Haymitch to chuckle. She had no idea, what he found so damn funny.

"Should I leave before you yell at me for the same reason?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Don't be ridiculous Haymitch. You've been working for my father for years now, you know everything about this ranch and I value your opinion."

"But you don't value his?"

"He has no idea about Snow Rocks' business."

"Maybe that was the idea." She looked at Haymitch strangely after that statement. "Look, sweetheart-" he continued "- he may not know much about Snow Rocks, but he knows a whole lot about Three Meadows. You know that boy basically runs that place now. Maybe your old man thought that Peeta can have some good ideas for changes at Snow Rocks." He mused, but Katniss shook her head in denial.

"My father thought he was the best rancher on the fucking world. If he didn't want anyone to give him ideas for Snow Rocks while he lived, why would he want that now?" She asked. Haymitch didn't answer that question. Even if he thought he knew the answer, he wasn't going to tell her. He didn't have to. She could read the answer right off his face.

"Because he thought I can't do it." She replied to herself in a small voice. "He fucking thought I'm too dumb to run the ranch I've been working on since I could walk." She added at a verge of tears. She wasn't going to cry, though. She wouldn't give her father the satisfaction. Haymitch shook his head at her reply.

"He just thought you are too female. That guy was a fucking ignorant and misogynist, he tough a woman is good only in kitchen and bed, that's all. He didn't think you would be good in anything but being a wife. He was a fucking idiot, though because I'm pretty sure the only thing you could be terrible at is actually being a wife." He added with a chuckle. She snorted.

"It's a good thing I don't want to be one then." She replied, causing Haymitch to shake his head with a smirk.

"I don't think even you are capable of staying oblivious forever, Katniss." She didn't understand what he meant by the statement, but she quite didn't give a damn.

"It's strange. Here I thought you could actually be the only person that liked my father." She stated causing Haymitch to raise his eyebrow at her.

"Hated that old goat." He confessed simply.

"Then why did you stay here all those years? You could always walk away, go work for the Mellarks. They would take you with open arms." She stated and he smirked at her and shook his head in amusement.

"I was wrong sweetheart. Apparently you are the most oblivious person on the planet."

TBC…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anybody didn't catch up on that, of course Haymitch stayed at the ranch for Katniss. He always loved her and couldn't just go away and leave the poor kid alone with her evil father. Haymitch, you sweetheart! 
> 
> Writing this fanfic has been such a blast so far! I love every second of it. I forgot to let y'all know, that I currently don't have a beta so I'm very sorry for all of the mistakes. English is not my first language. Also, if anyone of you would like to do betas for me I would be incredibly happy.
> 
> If you liked the chapter please let me know! If you didn't I would be grateful for any words of advice.  
> P.S Thanks for any kind of support!


	4. The Sisters

"Honey! I'm home!" Yelled Johanna as she entered Snow mansion dragging behind her a suitcase bigger than Katniss' closet. Katniss sighed loudly at the sight of her older sister and downed the rest of her coffee rolling her eyes from above the mug at a smirking Sae, who was putting jam at the young rancher's toasts. Johanna entered the kitchen with a frown and a big snort at the scene in front of her.

"Seriously Everdeen? What are you, five? You can't fucking put jam on your own toasts?" She commented, dropping her purse at the kitchen table. Katniss decided not to react to that comment. It was seven in the morning and the last thing she wanted to do was starting a day with a fight with her half-witted half-sister.

"Enjoyed your flight, Johanna?" She asked simply taking a huge bite of one of her toasts. Johanna grumbled something incoherently and sat heavily at the stool next to Katniss.

"I had to be at the airport in the fucking middle of the night, so what do you think." She complained reaching for one of her sister's toasts only to earn a slap on the back of her hand. Katniss reached for the bread and jam and threw it in her sister's arms.

"Thought you can jam your own toasts, Barbie girl." She smirked and reached for her cowboy hat to plop it on top of her dark-haired head. She took an old worn leather jacket and put it on over a brown sweater.

"I thought you were kind of reach, cow girl. Can't you afford a decent jacket?" Asked Johanna with a smirk. Katniss didn't comment on that only pulled the jacket closer around her with a sigh.

"Put on some real clothes Jo, wake your sister up and make yourself useful." She ordered returning the dishes to the sink. "Thanks for the breakfast, Sae." She added dropping a little kiss to the older woman's cheek. "I need to go, have loads of work. I need to make up for the late start." She finished and left the house in a hurry.

"Late start?" Asked Johanna with a slight surprise. "It's fucking seven in the morning!" She exclaimed putting some bread into the toaster.

"She's usually up and about by five." Replied Sae putting a mug of fresh coffee in front of Johanna. "And don't you tease her about that old jacket ever again." She added with a strange sadness in her eyes. "It was actually her mothers. One of the very little things she has left of her." She added making Johanna slightly uncomfortable. She cleared her throat awkwardly.

"So… do you know what's the whole deal with Annie? That girl is uncommonly jumpy." Sae shook her head in denial and sighed loudly.

"I have no idea… but I would say, don't push her to tell you if something is wrong." She replied finally sitting down for a moment. "It could only make things worse. If she has some deep dark secret she's gonna reveal it to Finnick or one of the Mellarks soon enough." She added making Johanna look at her strangely.

"Do they have magical powers or some shit?" She asked busying herself with toasts and jam.

"No, but they are good people who have a gift for hearing people out and making them feel comfortable. Especially the Mellarks, but Finnick has a way of charming young ladies into telling him things." Johanna laughed loudly at that.

"Oh, I bet!" She exclaimed thinking of the ways the ridiculously handsome rancher could charm a girl into much more than talking to him. "Are there any ugly cowboys at this place, anyway?" She asked with raised eyebrows. "Because every damn male character I've seen since I came here is a fucking sex on legs." She added making Sae throw her a half-amused and half-outraged look. "Especially that dark and handsome brother of hers. I mean, seriously? Being that hot should be forbidden." She added, this time making Sae smirk and shake her head at Johanna.

"That dark and handsome man, is also a very good person, who is loved by your sister more than anything, so don't you mess with him young lady, because if you break his heart I'm sure Katniss wouldn't have any second thoughts about shooting her own sister with a bow and an arrow." Answered Sae a little sternly.

"Oh, so she's an archer too? That's just fantastic." Grumbled Johanna making Sae laugh out loud.

"Just stay on her good side and she wouldn't have any reason to use neither her Winchester nor her beloved bow against you." Johanna groaned loudly at the news that her youngest sister was not only a fanatic of white weaponry but also could use a proper gun.

"And as for your previous question, there are a couple of not-so-attractive ranchers at this place, you will see." Replied Sae, a bit amused. "There is Chaff… an old goat and a pain in the arse. He misses an arm, looks like a hobo and smells of pickles and tobacco, but he's a fairly good men. There's Beete, a mechanic. A nice guy, but I wouldn't say he's your type… oh, and don't forget Haymitch. Yeah… grumpy, snarky, unpleasant…. Katniss loves him to bits."

"Oh, I wonder why." Replied Johanna with a fair amount of sarcasm in her voice. Sae laughed loudly at that.

"I have no idea, but I bet it has something to do with the fact that if there ever was someone at this ranch who could name himself Katniss' father it would definitely not be Coriolanus Snow. Haymitch, on the other hand… Haymitch comes pretty close to taking that position."

***W*L*L***

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want to disturb you." Said Annie, so quietly that Katniss almost wasn't able to hear her. She appeared, looking scared and uncertain, at the mini grave yard, that now contained not only their paternal grandparents' and Katniss mother's graves, but also their father's. Katniss often ended up her day visiting her mother's gravestone. She liked to talk to her, tell her about her day. Sometimes Gale joined her, but mostly they liked to spend time with their mother separately. She turned her head to look at her sister properly. She looked positively scared gripping tightly a bouquet of wild flowers.

"You didn't. I was just…"

"Visiting father?" Asked Annie quietly and Katniss shook her head slightly.

"Not exactly… well maybe that too, but I'm coming here for my mom since I can remember." Replied Katniss making Annie release a quiet "oh" sound.

"I didn't know, she was buried here too." She answered and Katniss shrugged a bit at that. "I understand, though, that you're coming here to talk to her." She added.

"Well, I know it's silly. She can be anywhere she wants to now, why would she stay here." Said Katniss in a half-questioning tone and Annie smiled sadly at her sister.

"It's not silly at all and I'm sure she is here. Where would she want to be more than with her children?" She asked rhetorically sitting next to Katniss at the little bench. Katniss shrugged again and looked with interest at her older sister.

"What are you doing here?" She asked eying the flowers suspiciously.

"I know our father wasn't a very good person, and that a lot of people are not so sad that he died," started Annie hesitantly, "but I believe, that no matter how bad or good a person was, they deserve to have fresh flowers on their graves. So I brought some for him, I hope you don't mind." She answered making Katniss smile slightly at her.

"Why would I? He was as much your father as he was mine, you can put flowers at his grave whenever you want to." She answered. "That big one," she added pointing towards a larger tomb a couple of feet away, "is our grandparents'. I didn't know them, though but Sae says I remind her of grandmother a bit. She says she was a very good women and that it was our grandfather who father resembled more." She concluded and Annie looked at the tomb with wonder.

"That's terrible, but as I sometimes wondered about my father when I didn't know who he was, I never ever thought about my paternal grandparents." She said making Katniss shake her head.

"It's not really that terrible. You didn't know him, you didn't know them. He wanted that, not you. It's his fault." Annie nodded at her younger sister's explanation and very gently split the flowers in her hands into three equal parts. She stood up and went to their grandparents' tomb placing one of the parts on it, then she placed the second one at their father's grave, the third one she placed on Katniss' mother's grave, making Katniss unable to dislike her at all.

"Thank you." She said, really meaning it and making Annie smile a bit.

"Do you remember her at all?" She asked and Katniss shook her head in denial.

"She died bringing me to this world so I couldn't. But Gale remembers her a bit. I don't know how much of this is true and how much he's just saying to make me feel better, but he always says he remembers how happy she was about having another baby. He says she somehow knew I was going to be a girl and that she called me Katniss from the very beginning." She said and then laughed a bit. "I bet he made all of this up." She added. Annie smiled and took Katniss' hand in hers.

"I'm sure he's telling the truth, Katniss. You know, women usually can tell if they are carrying a boy or a girl." She said making Katniss laugh out loud. "Did I say something funny?" Asked Annie, slight confusion gracing her voice. Katniss shook her head and laughed again.

"Our neighbor Delly Mellark, just gave birth to a baby boy. They named him Anthony." Explained Katniss not really clarifying anything to her sister. "The funny part is that she was absolutely certain for the whole pregnancy, that he was a girl and for nine months called the poor lad Sarah." She added making Annie laugh out loud and then cover her mouth in mortification, at the realization that she laughed at a graveyard.

"That's funny. Is she the blond one's wife? The one's that was… you know… named the supervisor? What was his name… Peter?"

"Peeta., and no. Delly is Rye's wife. He's Peeta's older brother."

"Oh! So, there's more of them? That's lovely. He seemed to be a nice guy." Replied Annie making Katniss grumble a little. "I'm actually quite relieved. It would be weird if Peeta had a wife and looked at you like that." She added making Katniss startle and look at Annie strangely.

"Like what?"

"Like he wants you." Replied Annie like it was the most obvious thing in the world, this time making Katniss laugh loudly.

"Peeta Mellark wants me? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while and that's saying a lot considering our father's will was read only two days ago." She stated, but couldn't control the blush that crept on her olive cheeks.

"Why? You are a very beautiful woman, Katniss."

"We will talk when you see him in the city for the first time. When he walks down the street every women looks at him like he was a meal. He can have any woman he wants and he definitely doesn't want me." She replied making Annie shrug.

"I don't know, I'm just saying what I saw, that's all." Stated Annie, a strange, kind of wicked, expression on her face. Katniss snorted lightly at her thoughts. The idea of Peeta Mellark wanting her for anything more than improving his teasing tactics was more than laughable.

"As I said, it's impossible, but if, weirdly, it was the case he would have the dumbest way of showing this since his life goal seems to be to annoy me, while he jumps around other women like they were the most precious thing on the planet." Added Katniss and felt horrified for a moment, that she could hear a note o bitterness in her own voice. No. This was stupid. She didn't want Peeta Mellark's attention.

"Well… if he wanted to jump around you, would you let him?" Asked Annie with a smirk causing Katniss to look at her. No, of course she wouldn't let him. She wasn't some pampered lady, she was a cowboy, a rancher. "I thought so." She added, not waiting for Katniss' answer. "Anyway," she started again, noticing that her sister preferred to avoid that topic, "You think your neighbors would mind if I wanted to visit them? I thought it would be nice to go and introduce myself if I'm going to stay here for a year." She asked hesitantly. "Plus. I really love little kids." She added making Katniss smile.

"I'm sure they would be delighted to officially meet you, Annie. I have a feeling Delly and you will become fast friends. She would love another woman's company since I couldn't really count as one." Replied Katniss with a chuckle. "Prim would love you too."

"Prim?"

"Rye and Peeta's little sister. She's thirteen and she's a sweetheart." Explained Katniss.

"They really seem like a lovely family." Commented Annie with a gentle smile.

"Well, they really are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> |AN|: Hey guys! Thanks for reading!   
> I'm so very grateful for any kind of your support. It's really awesome to read your opinions and see all of those kudos.  
> Today's chapter is a rather short one and quite uneventful too, but I felt like it needed to be done to help you get to know Jo and Annie a bit more. I hope you liked it anyway. I'm considering posting another chapter later today, let me know if you're up for reading more!


	5. The Brother

"Ms Everdeen! Ms Everdeen! MS EVERDEN! KATNISS!"

Katniss jumped up from behind her father's- or was it hers now?- desk and ran the short distance to the door throwing them open with a loud bang. Rory, the son of a local carpenter, who started to work on the ranch a couple of weeks ago, was running up the stairs in Snow mansion with such a speed, he kept tripping at his own feet.

"What is it Rory?" She asked with concern. Since Rory was Gale's responsibility, she was afraid that something bad happened to her brother.

"The mare! The white mare is giving birth!" He yelled making Katniss chuckle at his enthusiasm. She liked the white mare very much, and when she found out that she got pregnant unexpectedly last winter, she made Gale swear he would let her know when the baby is about to get born. She didn't suspect though, that it will also be young Rory's first birth to watch and that he would be so excited about it.

"That's great Rory. Tell Gale I'll be there in a minute." She answered and looked down the hall in deep thought. She sighed loudly, put her hands into her pockets and started down the hall knocking loudly at the third door on her left. She heard a muffled come in so she pressed the doorknob lightly and almost screamed and jumped at the sight that greeted her. There was Johanna, laying sprawled on her bed with some sort of green gunk covering her face. If Katniss didn't knew better she would think her sister died and is starting to decompose.

"Nice face Shrek." She stated startling Johanna out of her zen. "My white mare is having a baby, do you want to wash that shit out of your face and go watch?" She asked rising her eyebrows at Johanna's horrified expression.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She asked with disgust written all over her face. "You people have a really fucked up idea of what's entertaining and nice to watch and you are certainly more nutty than snickers if you think I'm going to participate in any of this." She added making Katniss roll her eyes and shrug.

"Suit yourself, Hollywood, but don't think you're going to sit on your but all damn year. You don't want to work with horses? Fine. You can always help with the cows." Replied Katniss turning on her heel and closing the door behind her. She banged at the door at the other side of the hall. Annie opened the door gently after a couple of seconds. She was clutching a book in her tiny hands and her eyes winded at the sight of Katniss, who wondered if there will ever be a time when Annie wouldn't seem afraid of her. To Katniss' great surprise, her middle sister with great excitement agreed to join her, claiming she loved horses. They made their way downstairs, Annie with an unusual bounce in her step.

***W*L*L***

"Catnip, you came just in time!" Exclaimed Gale and then smiled gently at the sight of Annie. "Hello Annie. I see our sister dragged you out to watch too." He said and Annie smiled at him brightly.

"She asked me and I said yes. I love horses." She replied, making Gale smile widely.

"If you want you're welcome here any time. So is your older sister of course." He added joyfully.

"Oh, I think Barbie girl doesn't have the stomach for this kind of thing, so of course I'm gonna send her here first thing tomorrow morning." Stated Katniss with a teasing smirk.

"Don't be cruel, Catnip." Replied Gale, but smirked at the idea anyway.

"Well, she has to do something and she's totally useless in the kitchen."

"That is true." Confirmed Annie hesitantly and her cheeks turned beet red. Katniss and Gale were sure it was because she wasn't used to saying bad things about people, even if they were utterly true. Katniss and Gale laughed at both her observation and discomfort.

"Look, it's happening!" Exclaimed Rory causing all three of them to look in the direction of the mare.

It didn't take long at all after that and soon enough they were all watching a new life, making its first wobbly steps in this fucked up world.

"Oh, look at him! He's so beautiful!" Exclaimed Annie, who looked like she was about to cry. "I think I'm gonna go get my camera!" She shouted and run off the stables. Katniss didn't see her so excited before.

"So… how are you, Catnip?" Asked Gale when they were left alone after he asked Rory to call the local vet, to come to the ranch with necessary injections for the baby foal. "I mean, how are things with your sisters?" He clarified making Katniss sigh.

"Well, you know. Annie is quiet and gentle, but scared of everything. I still can't figure out what of and why. I think I need to ask Finn to try and coax it out of her."

"You think it has something to do with the bruises?" Asked Gale and Katniss' head whipped into his direction. She bit her lip with confusion.

"What bruises?"

"The ones on her neck. Haven't you noticed? Finn pointed them to me a couple of days ago when he joined us for dinner." He replied with concern.

"I… I haven't noticed." She admitted, feeling slightly ashamed. After all she was the one who lived with Annie under one roof for almost two weeks now. "You think someone had hurt her?" She asked making Gale shrug.

"I don't know, but it looks like it. I wouldn't say they look like something that could happen by an accident." He answered. Katniss scratched the slope of her nose in deep though.

" That would explain why she's so scared of everything. Well, I'll just have to really ask Finnick for help. Or maybe Prim? But if this is something bad I don't want her to hear this kind of stuff." Mused Katniss.

"No, I think Finnick is a better option." Commented Gale. "What about the other one?" He asked changing the subject.

"Johanna?" He nodded and she shrugged. "Useless, rude and a real pain it the ass." She replied making him chuckle.

"Yeah… she looks like a piece of work." He answered with a smirk and ran his hand through his hair.

"Aw shit, Gale!" Grimaced Katniss as she took a look at his face with disgust. Her exclamation startled him a bit. "Not, that face. I know that face." She said poking her brother in the arm rather forcefully.

"What face?" Asked Gale, rubbing his arm with fake confusion. He knew she could read him like an open book. Katniss moaned loudly with a scowl.

"I know that dumb face of yours to well to not know what that particular look means, brother." She answered and banged her forehead a couple of times against his shoulder. "You have the hots for her, don't you? Oh my god, what did I do to deserve a brother with such a bad taste in women." She wined and he chuckled at her dismay.

"What? She is kinda hot. Don't deny it." He replied with a shrug.

"I don't know Gale! I prefer men!" She exclaimed throwing her arms in the air.

"Good to know. I was starting to have doubts about that." Came a voice from the entrance to the stables and Katniss stiffened at the sound of it.

"I prefer real men, Mellark, so don't expect me to swoon at the sight of you." She growled towards the door, when stood no one else but Peeta Mellark himself, wearing a teasing crooked smile.

"Ouch, sweetheart. You really know how to hurt my feelings." He replied putting his right hand against his heart mockingly.

"What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have your own ranch to run instead of bothering me with your presence?" She asked rudely.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to disappoint you, Kitty, but I'm here for your brother." He replied making Katniss' nostrils flare.

"Don't call me that." She said, threat heavy in her voice and he approached her challengingly. She held her breath.

"Or what… Kitty?" He asked bringing his face dangerously close to hers. She was so angry she was sure her face was the color of a ripe tomato.

"Or I will make sure that the only Mellark able to maintain the family line is your brother." She spit in his face just before turning on her heel and walking away. "And we're not finished with our conversation too Hawthorne!" She yelled when she was at the door. She never called her brother by his second name. Even Peeta knew it didn't mean anything good.

"Oh, shit. Did I just get you in trouble?" She heard Peeta ask Gale when she was leaving the stables. Gale sighed loudly at the question.

"Nah man." He answered with resignation. "My dick got me in trouble."

"Ha! Tell me about it…" Was the last thing Katniss heard Peeta say.

***W*L*L***

"What do you want, Mellark?" She asked a couple of hours later without raising her head form the papers she was currently working on in her office.

"How did you know it was me?" He asked curiously, causing her to snort loudly.

"Please… you walk like you weight a thousand pounds, Peeta. I could recognize your heavy steps anywhere." She replied this time looking at him questioningly.

"It's so lovely of you to recognize my footfall, sweetheart." He teased sweetly and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Is there anything in particular you want or did you just came here to get on my nerves?" She asked again making him smirk a little. He eyed some papers grouped into folders and placed in neat rows in the bookshelves.

"Oh, I don't know. I just thought I would come here, check if everything is fine and you know. Do a little… supervising." He replied teasingly fishing for some witty remark from her, but the only one he got was a tired sight.

"Do whatever you want. I don't care." She replied, lacking her usual fire. It made him concerned for her.

"I was just kidding, Katniss. Trying to get on your nerves, but now, seeing you like that I'm starting to wonder if I really should stay and at least try to find out what is wrong." He said plopping at a chair in front of her.

"Nothing's wrong, okay? I just have a lot of things to do." She replied looking him in the eye, but never stopping playing with the pencil she was currently holding. "In case you haven't noticed I have a whole damn ranch to run by myself." She added.

"I offered you help."

"And I declined." She replied with a note of finality. "I'm not gonna change my mind anytime soon."

"You should eat something."

"I'm fine."

"And sleep more."

"I'm fine."

"Probably some time by yourself would do you good too."

"I told you I'm fine!" She finally yelled and he raised his hands up in an act of surrender. He stood from the chair he was occupying and shook his head.

"I will get out of your hair then." He said with resignation and she nodded her head. "If you need some help after all or… someone. A friend? You know where to find me." He added and left without another word a strange sadness in his eyes.

She felt weird after he left, like she did something wrong but she couldn't really figure out what. After all he was the one who kept teasing her and pissing her off. She didn't have a lot of time to ponder this, because the next person who entered the room was her brother.

"You have a moment, Catnip?" He asked making her smile sadly in his direction. She liked that nickname he used for her. He said it came from the times when she was teeny tiny and he couldn't pronounce her name properly. She always smiled at the thought of little Gale struggling to say his sister's name.

"Sure I do. What's up?" She asked as he settled himself across from her on the other side of the desk.

"It's still strange to see you sitting there instead of him." He said with a small smile causing her to fidget slightly in her seat.

"It's still strange to sit here." She replied with a shrug. "What is it Gale, is something bothering you?" She asked him gently. They usually didn't have secrets from each other and since they basically only had one another since she could remember, they talked with each other about nearly everything.

"No, but I think that something is bothering you." He stated making her raise her eyebrows. "Does it have anything to do with the fact that Peeta left your office looking utterly pathetic?" He asked and she sighed, feeling the anger rise in her again.

"Why does everybody think that everything circles around Peeta freaking Mellark?" She asked quite loudly.

"Maybe because you react to his presence like a bull to a red rag." He replied calmly. "I haven't really figured out why, though. Did you had a fight a long time ago or something? Because you keep holding him at arm's length for months now." He added making Katniss sigh and mumble something incoherently. "What was that?" He asked with a smirk.

"When I turned eighteen, my father wanted him to marry me." She said, still quietly, but at least now he could recognize the words.

"Yeah, I know. And?" She looked at him startled.

"You know?" She asked, her eyes widening.

"Of course I do Katniss. I was the first person Peeta told." He answered and held his right hand for her to see. A thin white scar was still running across his palm, even after all this years. "We are brothers for life, don't you remember?" He said with a light chuckle. She shook her head at their teenage silliness. She still remembered the oath he, Peeta and Finnick took under the willow tree. Finnick's pocket knife, three bloodied palms and three handshakes. She was the only witness to that strange ritual. Brothers in fine, brothers in crime, brothers for life. She remembered it all too well. "He came to the stables fuming and cursing under his breath. I've never seen him so pissed off before." He said making Katniss scratch her nose. He recognized that gesture as a thing she was often doing while being upset about something.

"Well, I didn't know that the idea of marrying me is so freaking disgusting and unpleasant…"

"Wait a second." He cut in without letting her finish the sentence. "That's what all of this is about?" He asked incredulously. "You were pissed at him for months because you though he found the idea of marrying you unpleasant?" He added and laughed a bit making her look at him with reproach. "You are so silly sometimes." He added shaking his head. "Katniss… Peeta was never pissed off because he considered marrying you disgusting or any kind of bad, really. He was pissed off because he couldn't stand the fact that your father was cruel enough to make you marry someone only because he said so." Continued Gale taking his sister's small hand in his large one. It was so much more to that story, than he told his sister, but it wasn't his story to tell. The only thing he could do was reassure Katniss that Peeta didn't hate her or thought her unworthy and unattractive, but was simple too good to be able to handle her father's cruelty.

Katniss didn't say anything to that revelation. On one hand she was stunned by Gale's words, but on the other she kind of kicked herself mentally for believing that Peeta would be capable of being cruel towards her. Frankly, as annoying as he was at times, Katniss knew that Peeta Mellark was one of the best men she had ever met and there was never before a doubt in her mind that he had a heart of gold.

"I still can't believe you thought that Peeta could ever… I don't know, consider you unworthy of him or some shit." Commented Gale making Katniss sigh loudly.

"I don't know, Gale. We both know he changed a lot since we were kids." She replied causing Gale to chuckle.

"We all did, Catnip, but it doesn't make us different people. It just makes us more mature." He stated and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, yeah, because the three of you are just a definition of maturity." She said sarcastically, referring to her brother and his two best friends. The golden trio. The three musketeers. Gale laughed and ruffled his own hair a little. "Get out of here mister mature. I still have a lot of work to do." She added with a laugh and he got up ready to leave the office. When he was about to open the door she called his name making him turn around. "Come back here." She said beckoning him towards her. She stood up herself and meet him halfway. She hugged him tightly. "I love you big brother." She whispered against his chest and heard him chuckle a bit as he stroked her back a couple of times.

"I love you too." He replied, slightly touched by this act on affection. It didn't happen often.

"Just promise me you will be careful with Johanna, okay?" She said in a whisper. "I don't want you to get hurt and I don't want this to complicate things. Could you please promise me you will be careful?" She asked again and he nodded a couple of times against her head.

"I promise, Kitty." He replied making her groan out loud.

"Why on earth the two of you insist on calling me that?" She asked with reproach making Gale chuckle again. He let go of her and held her at arm's length.

"I don't really know Peeta's motives, but I think it's because it reminds us of the little girl running around the ranch with two braids and scrapped knees. The one that was less snarky, less sarcastic, exactly as much stubborn but way too cuter than her grown up self." He replied and she swatted his arm for that comment. He chuckled, laid a soft kiss on her forehead and opened the door to leave the office. Only when he closed it she yelled after him.

"I lied! I don't love you! At all!"

She could hear his deep laughter echoing through the empty halls.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I didn't post the next chapter yesterday guys! Something came up and I couldn't, but it's here now! I hope you liked it. I'm not really sure why, but I love this chapter. Peeta and Gale as friends is something that I always like to read (or write) about.  
> Please, if you read this, share your thoughts with me. I really value every opinion and it always keeps me going when I see someone review. It's a fantastic feeling that makes me want to never stop writing. Love you guys!
> 
> P.S Things are about to get very interesting on Snow Rocks, just keep following the story!


	6. The Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter may contain some graphic descriptions of violence.

Before anyone could even notice, it was already a month since Coriolanus Snow left this world and Katniss, Annie and Johanna were forced to live together for a year. That didn't necessarily change the way the sisters acted towards each other. Annie remained scared of her own shadow and even with Finnick methodically trying to coax the reason for it out of her for weeks now, they still didn't know what caused Annie to act so startled around nearly everybody. As a matter of fact, Finnick became the only person she seemed to be comfortable around, so Katniss made sure to let her spend as much time as she wanted to in his little cabin by the lake. Finnick wasn't really much of a rancher, but he was a good fisherman and he loved to bits the few horses he kept in his stables.

This situation didn't of course sit very well with Johanna, who claimed she should have equally as much free time as her younger sister and every now and then threatened Katniss that she's going to leave if Katniss gives her any more work to do. The young rancher knew of course, that the threats were empty, more teasing than serious, and kept sending Johanna to help Gale and Rory in the stables or, occasionally, when she was especially unpleased by her sister's actions, to help Haymitch with the cows. Katniss still couldn't fully accept the presence of her older sisters at the Snow Rocks. Well, Annie was rather okay, since her quiet personality caused Katniss to not even notice her presence most of the time, but Johanna was a different story. The eldest and youngest sisters butted they heads almost non-stop, this same driving crazy not only each other but everyone around them as well. That mostly meant Sae, Haymitch, Gale and poor Rory.

Time run fast in Montana, especially since it was already October and everybody in Snow Rock and Three Meadows was busy preparing for the winter. Katniss was finding herself with more and more work to be done every day, what caused her to sleep and eat even less than she usually did. It didn't go unnoticed by the people who were closest to her. Gale and Haymitch kept nagging her to take more breaks from work, Sae insisted on putting more food on her plate than she would ever be able to eat, and Peeta Mellark, who really took the supervising stuff to his heart, kept appearing at Snow Rock unannounced and helping with things when Katniss wasn't looking. The commotion and busyness at the ranch was so great that everybody had their hands full, especially the young boss, so when she finally found a moment to take her horse- Shadow for a ride and go check the fences by herself, she felt as a big weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

***W*L*L***

"Hey Katniss!" She heard a cheerful voice and she turned her head towards it. Shadow moved impatiently as she halted him to a sudden stop. She smiled as she saw Prim waving at her enthusiastically from the other side of the fence. She was standing by a little garden that the boys made for her a couple of years ago, when she developed great love for flora. She was tending to some white twinflowers.

"What's up, Prim?!" Katniss yelled back and neared the fence to meet the younger girl, who now was running at full speed towards her. "Late bloomers, ha?" She asked, pointing towards the flowers when Prim reached her side. The girl nodded her head a couple of times with a big smile. "They say late blooming flowers foreshadow a grim winter," she added, making Prim shrug a little.

"Delly said so too, when she came to look at the garden yesterday with Tony," replied Prim. "I don't mind. Winter is so beautiful," she added and Katniss laughed a bit at the comment. She didn't particularly mind winter as a season, but as far as she was concerned, the severe ones never brought anything good for the ranches.

"How are Delly and Tony by the way?" Asked Katniss patting her impatient horse to make him calm down a bit. Prim's smile widened even more.

"They are great! Tony is so precious and Delly and Rye can't keep their eyes and hands off of him. Not to mention my dad. He's absolutely crazy about him. Well… we all are. Peeta keeps buying him presents every time he is in town. Delly jokes the next thing he should buy should be a new closet to keep all of that stuff in," answered Prim with a laugh making Katniss chuckle as well. "You should finally come and see them. It's been almost a month and you haven't met my nephew yet!" She added, slightly outraged.

"I didn't want to bother them. I'm sure they wanted some time just with family first," replied Katniss making her shake her head slightly.

"Oh, Katniss you are family," was Prim's response, as if it was the most obvious thing on the planet. "Besides, even your sisters came to visit two weeks ago." Katniss sighed and smiled at her younger friend.

"You are right, I should have come sooner, but the truth is I have a lot of work with the ranch now."

"It's a very lame excuse. I bet you could leave it with Haymitch and Gale for some time, couldn't you?" She asked a little cheekily.

"Yeah… You're probably right. I promise I will try and fix my mistake as soon as possible," promised Katniss, making Prim smile widely.

"Good then. You heading to check the fences?"

"Yes I am. Wanna ride with me?" Offered Katniss, but Prim shook her head in denial.

"Maybe some other time. My dad promised me he'll show me how to make cheese buns today!" She exclaimed with excitement, Katniss chuckled lightly.

"I see the obsession with baking, didn't quite leave him yet, did it?" asked Katniss with a laugh. Ever since Mr. Mellark was diagnosed with heart condition and banned from running the ranch, he decided to try himself in his father's profession and started baking like crazy. They all though he was going to give up after some time, but apparently it became his new hobby and Katniss never complained since half of the city was benefiting from it as Mr. Mellark, being Mr. Mellark, kept presenting everybody with freshly baked goods.

"Oh, on the contrary," replied Prim happily, "he got even more crazy about the whole thing as soon as it turned out he's actually pretty good at it," she added, evidently proud of her father. "He kind of made the whole family hooked on it. Especially Rye and Peeta. I don't know how they find the time, but they keep asking dad to teach them something new. They baked a cake a couple of days ago. It was sooo big Katniss!" Exclaimed Prim with wonder, "and, oh my God, it was really delicious too! Dad made the base, Rye made the filling and Peeta, being the only one who can actually paint, decorated everything in cars and teddy bears and balloons. They claimed it was Tony's late birthday cake." Katniss laughed wholeheartedly not only at Prim's excited babble, but also at the mental image of three fully grown men, elbow deep with flour, dough and icing.

"It had to be quite the sight, but it also seems kind of fitting since they all have bread names," replied Katniss with a laugh.

"Yeah, I know. Tribute to grandpa. Daddy always said that since he decided to go into ranching it was the only way he could honor his father's profession, but I think that what he's doing now is sooo much of a better idea," joked Prim, and they both laughed about it for good couple of minutes.

"It was great to talk to you, little duck. I needed a good laugh." Stated Katniss after they calmed down a bit. "I need to go now though, before it starts getting dark."

"It's okay, but you should really visit us more often."

"I promise I will, Prim. Really."

"I'll hold you to that!" replied young Ms Mellark with a note of finality. Katniss laughed and waved enthusiastically towards her friend.

"See you Katniss, goodbye Shadow!"

"Goodbye little duck!"

"I'm not so little anymore!"

"Doesn't matter! You'll forever stay 'little duck' to me!"

"Be careful, Katniss!"

"You too, Prim!"

"I always am!" was the last thing Prim shouted, before Katniss was too far to hear anything else. She laughed out loud at the silliness and cuteness of Primrose Mellark.

***W*L*L***

Katniss cursed loudly right after being forced to fire from her Winchester. She was just nearing the edge of the forest when a fully grown grizzly bear charged at her on full speed. She didn't like killing animals when it wasn't necessary. She liked hunting, but she always only shoot at wild turkeys or squirrels since there was never a shortage of those in the woods and Sae always made delicious things with the meet. Killing a bear though, was hard to deal with for Katniss. Bears were rare, beautiful and Katniss was almost sure this one was just trying to protect its cubs. No matter how beautiful and rare the bears were, they were also deadly, the proof of what graced her tight now in a form of long bloodied gash. Thankfully it wasn't deep, thanks to the thick jean pants she was wearing. She took a couple of deep breaths getting the surge of adrenaline out of her system, before getting off her horse and taking off her pants to rinse the wound with some water from the bottle she always carried with her. She sat down on the grass to examine the wound better. She didn't get up quickly enough to put her pants back on, when she heard the sound of a galloping horse and a voice urgently calling her name. She groaned realizing the voice belonged to Peeta.

"Katniss? Wow!" He exclaimed as he jumped off of his horse and almost run into Katniss with her pants down to her knees.

"What's up Mellark? Never seen women's underwear?" She asked mockingly, pressing her sleeve to the wound a couple of times more.

"I've never seen yours," he replied with a cheeky smile.

"Look while you can because I can assure you you'll never see it again," she growled in responce.

"We will see. What the hell happ… wooooahhh, that's one hell of a bear!" Exclaimed Peeta as he finally noticed the big animal laying lifeless a couple of feet away. "And that's quite a gash," he added, squatting to take a better look at Katniss's leg.

"I've had worse. Get the hell up, Mellark!" She rebutted with a snarl pulling her pants back up, he jumped to his feet realizing his mistake.

"Sorry. You should put some clean bandage on it and call the doctor to come with the shots," he commented, suddenly very interested in the dead bear.

"I know what to do, Peeta. I'm not five," she replied with a sigh. "What are you doing here anyway?" She asked, a note of tiredness in her voice.

"I was checking on Prim, she wasn't back for quite a long time and we've heard someone shoot. Prim told me you were checking the fences," he answered, making Katniss pale a bit.

"Shit, I offered Prim to go with me earlier," she cursed under her breath. "Thank God she didn't come." She added, running her hand across her face.

"Well, you killed the beast."

"She would be terrified."

"She's more tough than you think, plus she would be with you. She would be fine," he answered and she sighed loudly at his logic. "I'll help you skin it, it's a big bear."

"Yeah, the whole neighborhood will be feasting tonight," she answered. "Don't you have anything better to do? I can handle the bear myself," she added and he shook his head at her.

"I don't doubt you could, but you don't have to. Plus-" he looked towards the cloudy sky "-it looks like it's about to come down pretty hard so we better hurry," he added and immediately started the work. She couldn't argue with that, the sky really was darkening more with every minute and the chilly wind that started as a light breeze in the morning, now gained on force and started to rock the woods pretty hard. She sighed loudly and getting her own knife, squatted to help him.

"Ugh… I didn't want to kill her. I think the cubs are near and…" She stopped suddenly as the new gust of wind brought a smell she found suspicious. He looked up at her, alarmed by her sudden silence. She bit her lip in concentration.

"Katniss?"

"Something is dead," she stated, looking across the bear and straight into his eyes. He raised his eyebrows and looked down at the dead animal. She rolled her eyes.

"No, not her. Something different, something…. Something's dead, Peeta. I can feel it. I can smell it in the air." She added standing up and wiping her hands with the spare shirt she found in her saddle. She passed him the cloth as he too straightened beside her.

"Well, I'm not going to discuss with you Indian nose," he replied in a whisper, as if scared loud talking is going to disturb her instincts. She didn't reply, but started her way towards the shed that stood near the empty spare pasture. Katniss' stomach lurched as the smell started to intensify the closer she got to the shed and a feeling of strange anxiety overtook her. She casted a glance towards Peeta only to find him following her with an unusual for him soundlessness.

The stench hit her with full force as she opened the door to the shed making her feel slightly lightheaded, but only the sight that greeted them made her suck on a breath and take a step back. She bumped into Peeta, who helped her to stabilize a little as she swayed on her feet.

"Oh my God," she gasped. She could hear him swallow audibly behind her. "Oh my God," she repeated and looked at her silent companion. He had a strange look on his face she didn't recognize, but when she saw the rigidness in his jaw and the vain on his neck pulsing rapidly she knew it was rage. Pure rage at the unnecessary violence they saw in front of them. There on a bed of hay lied a one year calf, or rather what was left of it. It was bloodied, gutted and dismembered, a painful, panicked expression in his lifeless opened eyes. She couldn't look any longer so she averted her eyes looking at Peeta instead.

"Who… why… it didn't… it wasn't an animal… it couldn't be an animal that did this," she said in a shaky whisper. He looked at her a great sadness pooled in his ocean-blue eyes.

"There's only one animal, who could have done that," he replied, his voice slightly hoarse.

"Human." She finished for him as the first drops of rain hit the cracked ground.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I know that publishing this chapter took me longer than the last ones, but the truth is I have some crazy things happening in my life right now and I have very little time for writing now. I also wanted to post this chapter as a beta version, but it seems my beta reader is as busy as I am, and she's just currently working on my second chapter. I didn't want to keep you guys waiting so I posted this chapter unbetted. So how did you guys like the turn of events? Interesting? I hope it was okay and I apologize for every mistake. Let me know what you think!


	7. The Husband

 

She was soaking wet as she barged into the staff cabin, where all of the cowboys employed on Snow Rock's lived. She squeezed the water out of her braid right on the doormat and knocked loudly a couple of times against the doorframe to gain their attention. Young Rory was the first one who noticed her presence and he jumped up like a startled doe at the sight of her, causing Haymitch to almost spill his tea as the table shook violently at Rory's ministrations.

"Nobody taught you to knock, girl?" Grumbled Chaff, taking his feet off of the table and wiping his dirty mouth with his sleeve.

"I just did." Replied Katniss without missing a bit and casted a glance around the room. A few of the men seemed to be playing cards and Katniss knew that it was probably for money. Haymitch drank his usual dark tea and smoked a cigar while cleaning his favorite riffle. Chaff looked like she disturbed his meal, made of noodles with meatballs that he was eating straight from the pot while cheering on Cato and Marvel, who played a game of darts, drinking bear out of extra large bottles. Besides them, Rory was the only one standing straight like a string looking slightly startled and a bit red on the cheeks. She wiped the water from her face as she took a couple of steps closer to the comfortably warm roaring fireplace. She looked at Rory and cracked a smile.

"At ease, soldier." She joked, making the young cowboy blush even more and take back his previously occupied seat.

"What brings you here at this hour, sweetheart? And in this weather too." Asked Haymitch reaching for a thick plaid and throwing it at her shivering form.

"Someone just butchered one of our one-year-old calves and left it in the shed near the spare pasture by the woods," she said outright wrapping the plaid around her shoulders.

"Butchered?" Scoffed Chaff. "That's just ridiculous, girl. I bet the cow got lost and some coyote took care of it. Don't you bother us with your stories during our free time, lassie." He barked, getting back to his meal without a second glance towards Katniss.

"Pretty skilled the coyote if it could precisely operate a knife. I would very much want to find it and ask it about its unusual capabilities. Maybe it can talk too." Replied Katniss cheekily, earning a smirk from Haymitch and a loud laugh from Rory, who casted his head down as soon as Chaff send a murderous glance his way.

"So you're saying it was killed by a men?" Asked Cato, pulling a long sip from his bottle. Katniss nodded shortly in confirmation.

"More like massacred. It was gutted and dismembered." She added, making Rory's beet red face go suddenly very pale.

"Are you sure?" Asked Haymitch.

"Positive," she confirmed and shook her head in exasperation at the sight of their still unbelieving faces. "If for some reason, you think my judgment on that case is somehow untrustworthy then go ahead and ask Peeta Mellark. We found the cow together." She added, now truly pissed off that she had to use that argument.

"We believe you, sweetheart…."

"Well, I don't," Chaff cut in, only to be silenced by an enraged Cato.

"Shut the fuck up, Chaff. No one asked for your opinion."

"Careful boy, or…"

"Knock it off all of you, now!" Yelled Katniss, startling all of the men at the same time. She never did anything like that before, but she was their boss now and if they didn't know she could get them to behave and listen to her, they would get on her head pretty quickly. "I didn't came here to listen to your pathetic squabbles, but to inform you to have your eyes open. Whoever did that, didn't do it by accident and if it was meant to be a joke it was a damn stupid one. Just be careful, whoever that guy is, he's pretty skilled with a knife."

"You think it's a cowboy?" Asked Haymitch scratching his stubble in deep thought.

"Bet, girl thinks it was one of us," grumbled Chaff, but Katniss choose to ignore the comment all together.

"What does Peeta think about it?" Asked Marvel causing Katniss to sigh loudly at the question.

"The same thing I do. It had to be human, a man who knew his way around a knife. For a moment we considered the possibility that they were just some dumb town kids having a fucked-up idea, but we dismissed it pretty quickly. Whoever did this knew what he was doing and BOTH of us, Peeta and I, agree on that." She replied stiffly. "That's exactly why he's now at Three Meadows, talking to his own men and saying them the exact same damn thing I do, but I bet he didn't have to repeat it a thousand times in order for them to believe he didn't fucking hallucinate." She added with a bit of venom, causing Marvel to blush slightly. "Let's hope it was just some fuckard giving a guest show, who left as soon as he was done with the surprise ho got for us. One way or another I want all of you to have your ears and eyes wide open. You notice anything out of order you repot back to me immediately. Is that clear?" She finished, her voice slightly raised. She was greeted with a nod of agreement from every cowboy present, except Haymitch.

"Crystal clear, boss." He said instead with a little smile. She knew what that smile meant, he was simply proud of her. She took the plaid off her shoulders and folded neatly into its previous form.

"Thanks for the blanket, Haymitch." She thanked throwing it back in his direction. She started towards the door, but stopped suddenly when a thought occurred to her. "Any of you boys fancy a bear skin? I have one on my horse and I don't give a damn about hunting trophies and shit." She proposed making every men in the room stunned again.

"Where on earth would you get a bear skin form, girl?" Asked Chaff gruffly.

"I bought it in a store," she replied sarcastically. "What do you think, Chaff? I took it off a bear."

"You killed a bear, Katniss?" Asked Rory, his eyes filled with amazement.

"Well, I didn't quite want to, but she wanted to make a meal out of me, so it's not like I had any other options." Replied Katniss sending a warm smile towards they boy she still considered a kid.

"If you don't want it, I will gladly take it." Said Marvel enthusiastically making Katniss nod in agreement.

"Help yourself, Shadow is outside," she replied and he almost ran towards the door in his eagerness. "I think you should teach the rookie how to use a Winchester." Added Katniss nodding her head towards Rory.

"Yeah, I'll get to it first thing in the morning." Replied Haymitch nodding in agreement to Katniss' idea.

"Shoot? Why?" Asked Rory, slightly surprised.

"Because, Rory," she started the moment Marvel entered the cabin, dragging the heavy bear skin behind him, "shit happens."

* * *

"You look like hell, brainless." Stated Johanna as soon as Katniss entered the living room in Snow's mansion half an hour later. She was still soaked through and she sneezed loudly as she took off her jacket.

"We were worried about you being outside in the weather." Stated Annie as she placed a mug of warm tea in front of Finnick.

"I wasn't," interrupted Johanna with a little smirk.

"I was about to ask Finn to go and look for you," added Annie, ignoring Johanna's comment.

"I've told you she's going to be fine," stated Sae from an armchair standing in front of the roaring fireplace. "Take your shoes and hat off, Katniss. This isn't a saloon." She added sternly. Katniss sighed loudly and without saying a word fulfilled Sae's order.

"What the hell happened to you?" Asked Johanna taking in her sister's disheveled appearances. She eyed the gash on her tight suspiciously.

"You are hurt!" Exclaimed Annie with worry and almost dropped the mug of tea she was now carrying into the room for Katniss.

"I ran into a bear." Katniss replied with a shrug, as if it was the most natural thing on the planet. "Brought some mea,." she added holding up her hunting bag as an indication. Johanna grimaced with disgust.

"That's fucking fantastic." She commented looking as if she were about to puke all over the place. "It had to be a very small bear." She added eyeing the amount of meat suspiciously.

"Did it attack you?" Asked Annie, panic rising in her voice.

"It was quite a large one actually. I shared with Peeta though, since he helped me skin it," replied Katniss toward her eldest sister,"and it didn't really get the chance to attack me, only grazed my tight before I shut it with my Winchester." She added, trying to calm Annie down "I gotta go change. I don't think there's an inch on me that is dry."

"A bear?" Asked Annie rising her brows with amazement. Finnck shrugged at it as if it really wasn't that much of a deal, but he reached into his pocket for his phone and made a call to a local doctor. He knew Katniss too well to not be concerned she's not going to make that call herself. Katniss appeared back downstairs in a matter of minutes, sat at the table across form Annie and started to work eagerly on a bowl of Stew that Sae heated for her.

"I've called Effie, she's going to be here in half an hour." Stated Finnick, making Katniss look up and roll her eyes at him.

"Thanks Finn, but I'm not a child. I could have done that myself." She mumbled in answer, too hungry to talk with an empty mouth.

"Would you?" He asked with a teasing smile. She didn't have the chance to answer when Gale entered the house looking only slightly less wet then Katniss was a couple of minutes ago.

"Hey everybody!" He greeted loudly and made a couple of steps into the room only to come eye to eye with Sae's stern look. She didn't have to even tell him what is it about when he peeled off his shoes with a bashful expression. Johanna marveled at the fact that a middle-aged short woman could with one look make all of those grown up men and woman act like naughty children that got scolded. Katniss greeted her brother with a warm smile. "I've got a call from Peeta asking me to meet everybody here, is everything okay?" Asked Gale with concern. Katniss huffed at the news. She knew she had to tell the rest of the boys about what happened today with the cow, but she didn't appreciate the fact that Peeta felt like he was responsible for calling a meeting. The cow was at her ranch after all. She took a calming breath. She was too tired to think about it. She ran her hand across her face.

"Yeah… something happened, but let's wait for Mellark then. We'll talk when he gets here." She added, getting back to her food.

"Is it about the bear?" Asked Johanna making Gale take notice of her for the first time since he got into the room. He did notice her late, but when he did, he couldn't stop throwing glances her way. The fact that she was dressed in a skimpy night-gown didn't help the matter.

"What bear?" He asked tearing his eyes away from Johanna and looking at Katniss questioningly.

"I ran into a female grizzly earlier today." She answered rolling her eyes at her brother's obvious staring.

"You what?"

"Chill, big brother. As you can see she ended up much worse than me. As a matter of fact I believe we'll be eating her for dinner tomorrow." Replied Katniss with a little laugh as she pointed to her hunting bag that Sae was now taking care of in the kitchen area.

"Eat it?" Exclaimed Johanna with outrage. "Over my dead body!" She added making Katniss smirk at her a little as she remember Johanna's response to her using that saying.

"Don't tempt me, Barbie girl." She replied making Johanna huff in annoyance.

"But you okay?" Asked Gale again, not minding the exchange, desperate to make sure she didn't get hurt.

"I'm perfectly fine, just a little gash on my tight." She answered downplaying, as they heard the door open again.

"Well, you should at least call the doctor to come here with the shots." Stated Gale patronizingly.

"That's what I told her earlier today." Came Peeta's voice from the door. He had a manner of putting on his pennyworth anytime he interrupted other people conversation. Johanna and Annie snickered a bit as Katniss groaned loudly and hid her face in her hands.

"Seems you did a lousy job telling her about it since it had to be me who thought about it and called Effie." Commented Finnick making Katniss look at him reproachfully.

"You didn't even gave me a damn five minutes to come home, change, take a fucking shit and then call the doctor." She growled making Peeta and Gale chuckle. "Oh, shut the fuck up you two." She turned towards them. "Neither of you gets to treat me like I'm a half-witted ten year-old." She added and sighed loudly. "Let's go to the office, we have more important stuff to discuss than your displays of over protectiveness or whatever that was." She added right before sneezing loudly and cursing even louder.

"You okay?" Asked Peeta, a strange mix of worry and amusement gracing his deep voice. She chose to ignore the question instead of hitting him across the head.

* * *

"Oh my God." Commented Gale as Katniss and Peeta took turns to cover the story of finding the butchered calf. "Who could have done such a thing?" He asked rhetorically as he stood up and started to circle the room nervously.

"I don't know guys. Maybe it were just some dumb kids from the city, joking around like the dumbasses they are." Mused Finnick hopefully, not really believing in his own argumentation.

"Let's hope it's just a random stranger, because otherwise it would mean that someone at the Snow Rocks has an enemy." Stated Peeta, looking at Katniss questioningly. Katniss furrowed her brows.

"You think I have an enemy?" She asked making him shrug his shoulders.

"Do you? Can you think of anyone who would want to torment you?" He asked and she smirked.

"Besides you?" She asked causing him to chuckle.

"Well Johanna kind of hates you, but…"

"Oh, come on Finn are you serious? Do you really see that woman gutting and dismembering an animal?" Cut in Gale with outrage, making Katniss snort at his defensiveness.

"Well that was meant as kind of a joke, what you would know if you'd let me finish." Replied Finn with a slight amusement. "I think it's obvious it's nobody from either of your families and I don't see grandma Mags sneaking out of the house at night to butcher some animals." He added making Peeta chuckle a little.

"Well I don't know Finn. Your Gran was a butcher's wife after all." Teased Peeta making everyone laugh a bit and again, as he seemed to always do, defusing the tension immediately. "But back to the question-" he started again looking towards Katniss "- I know you don't exactly have a sunny disposition or pro social skills, but I don't know of a person who would hate you enough to do such a thing." He stated making Katniss raise one eyebrow at him.

"Gee, thanks Mellark. Not everybody has your ability to sweep every women and half of the men off their feet with two words." She replied mockingly and he laughed a bit.

"Well, not every woman." He replied with a smile.

"Seriously? Name one." She challenged and he raised his eyebrows with evident amusement.

"You." He answered simply and she stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond to that.

"Well…" She started rubbing her nose nervously, "you guys treat me like I'm a dude anyway so I suppose I'm as good as one." She replied making him open his mouth as to say something. "Plus," she added not giving him the chance to do so, "you've never really tried." She added right before biting her tongue forcefully. What the fuck was she doing? She didn't want Peeta Mellark to sweep her off her feet. He looked very dumbfounded for about fifteen seconds, but recovered quickly and made the teasing smile reappear on his lips.

"Challenge accepted!" He stated making Katniss roll her eyes. They both forgot that Finnick and Gale were still very present in the room and listening to their conversation with interest and slight amusement.

"Should we leave and get you some room?" Asked Finnick teasingly making Katniss blush prettily.

"I wouldn't say no, but I'm not sure Katniss is ready to be left alone with my charming self." Replied Peeta making Katniss snort and Gale laugh loudly.

"Anyway guys, I have something to tell you too. I asked Annie if I could share with you as soon as she told me and assured her it was only for her own good and protection." Started Finnick, changing the mood in the room immediately.

"Is it about her bruises and the fact that she's scared of everything that moves and breaths?" Asked Katniss, for some reason lowering her voice.

"Yeah, she finally told me what she's so scared of," he replied. Peeta and Gale took their sits back at the table, preparing for a long story. "It's her husband." Stated Finnick simply, making Katniss rise her eyebrows. "Well, ex-husband to be exact," he clarified. "A really fucked up bastard. Incredibly violent. She said he used to beat her with everything he had in reach." He added. Katniss took what she was hoping was a discreet look towards Peeta. She still remembered when they were just kids and his own mother beat him almost to death with a rolling pin. It was a case loud on the whole Montana when his father kicked her out of the house for that and threatened he was going to kill her if she nears his children again. Prim was only a babe that time and Peeta was in recovery for almost three months. Katniss remembered being glad that her father didn't get a damn about her to the point of not bothering with even giving her a spanking. Now, at age of twenty five, Peeta Mellark was sitting at the table listening to Annie's story, his jaw tense and fists clenched tightly on top of the table. She had a strange urge to take his hand into hers and massage it gently until it relaxed. She shook her head, clearing her mind of that thought. She wasn't the only one who noticed Peeta's tensed expression. Gale looked at his friend with concern.

"You okay, Peet?" He asked making Finnick look at the two of them. Peeta came out of his stupor suddenly and looked at Gale with a slight smile. She'd never seen him fake his smile so hard.

"Yeah, sure." He replied lightly and rubbed his chin right along the thin scar that was present there ever since the day his mother gave it to him. "Go on, Finn." He added, his voice slightly choked. He cleared his throat. Finnick nodded.

"So, one day when he left after giving her some serious beating she just left. She said the only thing she took with her was her purse. She survived only thanks to some of her old friends and kept running. He got a restraining order, but it didn't help much. She said he somehow always managed to find her, so she was actually happy that she could stay here for some time. She's hoping he won't find her here." He finished. Gale whistled loudly and Katniss burrowed her head in her hands. She remembered how much Peeta and Rye suffered when their mother used violence against them and she was sure that being the victim of your own husband was as much terrible as that. She immediately felt sorry that she didn't treat Annie better from the start.

"He's going to come and look for her." Stated Katniss looking up from her hands. Finnick and Gale nodded, but Peeta still looked slightly green. Katniss wasn't going to lie. Whatever disagreements were between them, she cared for the man enough to be concerned when he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Then we have to be prepared for the bastard and give him a nice Montana welcome." Replied Peeta looking straight into Katniss' eyes.

"What if he's already here?" Asked Gale in a slight concern. "What if… what if he was the one who butchered the cow?" He added making them all look at him.

"I don't think so, Gale," replied Finnick. "I think being violent towards your wife is a slightly different story than massacring animals." He stated.

"You do? Well, I'm not that sure." Commented Peeta. Katniss nodded her head a couple of times.

"I agree with Peeta." She stated making him look at her with a slight smirk. This time she could see the smile was real.

"Mark this day, gentlemen! Katniss Everdeen just agreed with me." He teased making Katniss smile. Now she was at least sure he was back to his normal self.

"Don't get used to it, Mellark." She replied making him chuckle. "But back to the topic, I think that if someone is evil enough to beat another person without a second thought, they won't have a problem with hurting an animal, even if just to make a point." She added on a different note.

"Do you know his name, Finn?" Asked Gale, Finnick reached into his jacket pocked and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"That's all the info, I've managed to find on him with a little help from Darius." He answered unfolding the paper for all of them to see. "His name is Bruce Tussinger and the last time he was seen, was actually by Annie's mother and stepfather in Alabama. He came looking for her two months ago. They didn't tell him anything but he'd found her anyway two weeks later." Stated Finnick, showing the rest of them a picture of him. He was a tall, broad man, his hair cut very shortly and his eyes with an unpleasant glint. Katniss almost shivered at the sight of him and wondered what had made Annie marry someone like that. "We have to consider he could change his looks. Annie said he'd never done that before, but there's always a first time for everything. It depends on how desperate to find her he is." He added running his hand along his bronze hair. She could see he was worried about her sister, it was as obvious as the fact that Gale couldn't stop staring at Johanna's butt. She sighed internally. There were thousands of woman in Montana, but they had to take interest in her sisters off all the people. She was happy she didn't have another one because she was sure she would have to deal with a horny Mellark as well. She cleared her throat.

"Peeta," she started making him look at her, "did you hire anyone new lately?" She asked, he took a second to think about it.

"No, I didn't." He replied shaking his head. "You?" He asked right back making her shake her head in denial. The both looked at Finnick at the same time.

"Me neither."

"Well, this sets us right back to the starting point," stated Gale tiredly. "Listen guys, I think the only thing we can do right now is be careful and hope this doesn't happen again. We should have our eyes open on new people in town and at the ranches in neighborhood, too." He added making everyone agree. "I'm sorry, Catnip but I still need to feed the horses." He stated. "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?" He asked.

"No, I think that's all. I'll see you tomorrow." She replied and squeezed his hand right before he left the room. They heard a slight commotion downstairs.

"Finnick, darling!" An overexcited woman's voice called up the stairs. Finnick groaned loudly. "Come here my darling boy! I can't wait to see you!"

Katniss laughed loudly at Finnick's miserable expression.

"Go on, you lovely boy. Don't make Effie wait for you any longer." Said Peeta teasingly. Effie Trinket was a good doctor but she was also outrageously flirty with men, especially the young and hot ones, what made Finnick be on top of her list.

"Go to hell, Peeta." He replied making the blond cowboy laugh loudly. "Just wait till she finds out you're here as well." He added making Peeta freeze for a moment.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would and with a great pleasure too." Replied Finn lightly.

"Finnick my dear boy!" Called Effie again making Finnick groan again. "Remember she's here for you, Katniss." He added right before taking a deep breath and heading out to feed the beast. Katniss and Peeta chuckled at the ridiculous scene.

"Can I sleep here?" Asked Peeta hopefully making Katniss press her lips together to hold in the laughter and shake her head in denial. "Oh, come on! Don't be so evil." He replied lightly, but his expression changed as soon as he realized what he said. He hated himself for using the word evil, because it was the only one Katniss ever used to describe his mother. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she was quicker than him.

"Now there's no way in hell I'm gonna let you stay here. You are so going out there." She replied with a smile, trying to take his mind off of his faux pas. He didn't respond with a witty remark as he would in normal circumstances. "You okay, Peeta?" She asked, concern evident in her voice. He snapped out of it and send her way a wicked smile.

"So much better now, knowing that you worry about me." He replied teasingly and she scowled at him.

"Fuck you, Mellark." She replied and he laughed wholeheartedly.

"Be careful, sweetheart because someday I might actually take you up on that offer." He replied and left the room with a wink in her direction. It took her a great moment to understand what he said, but when she did she blushed beet red, because somewhere deep down she really wished he would.

TBC...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely people! I'm back! I hope y'all didn't think I abandoned the sory or sth. I've had a very busy period for a couple of weeks now, because of exams and all that stuff... ugh. But it's over now and I hope I'll be able to upload more often.
> 
> A few of you have told me that I should beta the story. Well, my dear friend (God bless you) StepanieO is doing the bets, but she doesn't have much time herself so now only the 1st and the 2nd chapter are in beta version. I hope you don't really mind me posting the unbeted chapters, do you?
> 
> Aweeee... Everlark is slowly starting to happen... I can't wait for those two dumbasses to get together already.  
> What do you think? How did you like it?  
> Lat me know!


	8. The Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! My God such a nervous and eventful time in my life that was! Hopefully it's finally over now and I can write and read and do other things.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter because I quite like it. :)
> 
> Have fun!

"Get the hell out of my kitchen, Gale. You reek of sex and Johanna's perfumes." Mumbled Katniss as she entered the kitchen area in her house the next morning. Gale looked up at her from the bowl of cereal he was currently eating. Since it was Sunday and Sae had the day off, it was the only breakfast he could hope for, especially since he was too lazy to make something more demanding himself.

"I wonder how you can tell. Your nose is so stuffed I bet you wouldn't smell it if there was a giant horse shit in the middle of the room." He answered and she sneezed loudly in reply. "You okay?" He asked, but she choose to ignore his question.

"Well, you look like you just got out of bed. I'm not dumb." She replied to his previous question and seated herself next to him. "Besides, Johanna's perfumes are so fucking strong, I think I would be able to smell them even if I was permanently deprived of the sense of smell," she added with disgust. He shook his head at her.

"Well, I don't think I have a reason to be sneaky about it. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong." Stated Gale, making Katniss drop her spoon and look at him with anger.

"I've told you to be careful Gale, but you choose not to listen."

"I'm being careful."

"I'm not talking about using a fucking condom, Gale." She replied and he shook his head at her.

"And that's not what I meant either. I don't really understand what's your problem, Katniss."

"Well, for starters, you are my brother and she is my sister. That's just creepy." She said, making him look at her with amusement.

"Kat, Jo and I ain't related." He replied making her huff in annoyance.

"It's still creepy and it could complicate things really badly, Gale. Don't you get it? This is not a healthy relationship," she stated and he ran his hand through his hair nervously.

"Listen to me, Katniss. I really appreciate your opinion in every aspect of life and I really value your advices in most of them, but don't try to patronize me about relationships, because you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. The fact that you can't maintain any kind of romantic relationship doesn't mean that we have to not give a damn about those kinds of things too. " He replied rather harshly and she swallowed loudly. He very rarely talked to her like this. She looked away from his face.

"I'm just trying to warn you, Gale. You don't know her at all and I know how easily you are getting involved in relationships. I don't want you to fall in love or something while she treats you like a casual fuck." If he could talk to her like that, she wouldn't think twice about doing it too.

"You should consider that you are the one who judges her wrongly, Kat." He said in a much gentler and calmer manner after realizing his rudeness. Of all the people, he hated arguing with his sister the most. "I know her for exactly as long as you do and I don't find her any kind of the bitch you're trying to make out of her. She is different than you, different than any of us really, because she was brought up in a very different environment, but that doesn't make her a bad person. Actually I think it's what attracted me to her in the first place."

"She's selfish, lazy and insolent. I'm pretty sure that doesn't make her a good person, too." Replied Katniss as she released a couple of painful coughs.

"And you are big headed, stubborn and snarky, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't make you a bad person either," he rebutted. She sighed loudly at his reasoning "Nobody is perfect, Katniss".

"I just don't like seeing you hurt, Gale." She stated gently and took a long sip of her tea.

"I don't like to see you hurt either, but it doesn't mean we can run each other's lives." He concluded. "Just try giving her a chance, will you? Maybe you'll find out she's not as bad as you think she is." He added and she dropped her head on the stool, down onto her crossed arms only to jump up startled as she felt four paws on her back, sharp claws digging into her skin.

"Shit!" She exclaimed reaching back and grabbing the offending creature off of her back. "Freaking fur ball. What are you doing here you hideous creature?" She asked the orange cat looking straight into his green eyes. She was pretty sure he drew some blood from her back. "Prim is going to look for you everywhere, Burrercup. Get the hell outta here." She added, but couldn't help but stoked the cat's red fur anyway.

"I can't believe he lives with the Mellarks and still feels like he needs to come here fishing for food." Commented Gale stroking the orange cat's little head. Buttercup was an old thing, a stray that Prim found one day near the woods and nursed to health with just a little bit of help from the local vet. She fell in love with the ugly creature immediately, without a care for the fact that Buttercup's battle wounds left him limping and with only half of his left ear. "Sorry pal. No Sae, no bacon." Stated Gale with sigh and a little bit of regret in his voice.

"Go home you silly thing, before Prim wakes up for school and fids out you're missing." Said Katniss getting the cat off of the stool and on the wooden floor right before getting into a painful coughing fit.

"You should take the day off." Gale looked at his sister with worry. "You look like you are about to die." She send him a scowl. "That actually makes you look even worse," he added with a chuckle. "Just go back to bed, Catnip."

"Are you crazy?" She moaned and if he didn't pity her so badly he would have laughed at the nasal sound of her voice. "I can't go back to sleep. I have so much to do."

"You won't be able to do anything if you catch a pneumonia. Get back to bed. The ranch won't fall apart without you being out and about for one damn day."

"I've told you I can't…"

"Seriously, Katniss. Haymitch and I and the rest of the boys really can manage without you for a day."

"But…"

"Catnip, please." She sighed loudly. He knew exactly that when he started to plead, her heart usually softened and she'd agree to anything he wanted. No this time, though.

"Sorry, big brother but no. The winter is closer every day and there's still so much to do. We're already short on people," she said. He huffed angrily.

"I'm being dead serious, Katniss. Either you agree to take the day off or I'm calling Peeta." He threatened and she looked at him strangely.

"What kind of threat is that?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I have no idea, but I know how much you hate to ask for help and that's exactly what I'm going to do in your name as soon as he picks up the phone."

"That's a real low blow, Gale." She answered and looked at him with reproach. He chuckled lowly.

"If that's going to help me, than I'm okay with it." He stated getting up from the chair and putting away his empty bowl.

"Well, I'm not!" She exclaimed and he laughed at her outraged outburst.

"Luckily I'm the older one, so you have to listen to me!" He said too cheerfully for her liking.

"In your dreams, Hawthorne." He didn't stop laughing, but dropped a little 'good bye' kiss at her forehead. He didn't want to push it so he didn't point out the fact that she had a fever.

"Maybe I'll call Peeta after all."

"Goodbye Gale!"

***W*L*L***

"Where's Annie Oakley? Haven't seen her today at all." Asked Johanna as she pretended to help Annie prepare the dinner. Annie looked up from the carrots she was chopping.

"Oh, you don't know? She's sick. Poor thing got so soaked through the other day she's caught a pretty bad cold." Replied Annie with pity. Johanna raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"And she's in bed? That's surprising. She's that kind of a person I would think works until she ends up flat on her face." Replied Jo with confusion.

"I ran into Gale earlier today. He told me she fought hard, but he threatened her he would call for Peeta's help if she doesn't agree to stay in bed." Stated Annie and giggled a bit herself. Johanna laughed at loud at that.

"My God, that girl is ridiculous. Every time the two of them are in one room, there's so much sexual tension I just want to grab them and throw them in bed together." Commented Jo making Annie blush. "I can't believe how oblivious she is. That man is literally drooling at the sight of her."

"He is, isn't he? I thought that I was the only one that noticed." Mused Annie with a smile.

"Such a waste… he could have every girl…"

"Don't be rude, Johanna!" Exclaimed Annie looking angrily at her older sister. "Katniss is a beautiful woman. I'm not surprised he's attracted to her. She's pretty and strong and fierce. She runs a ranch herself at the age of 21." She added making Jo raise her hands in surrender.

"I get it, I get it. The cow girl is a real wonder. I think she's a waste of beauty too, to be honest." Replied Johanna knowingly. "She could be so much prettier if she wanted to put some effort into it," she added. "I'm sure Peeta would appreciate it."

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear!" Exclaimed Annie a little bit too loudly to inform her older sister to cut off the topic as Peeta entered the house.

"My God, it smells heavenly in here!" He exclaimed as he entered the room with a huge grin. "Hello ladies!" He said cheerfully. They greeted him with big smiles too. "So, I'm the devil, huh?" He asked with amusement making Annie blush and Johanna chuckle.

"Well, you look more angelic to me, but maybe you should ask for Katniss' opinion." Replied Johanna and then jumped up startled at the kick that Annie so carelessly threw into her shin. Peeta laughed a bit but looked at them suspiciously.

"We're actually making chicken noodle soup for her, it's not ready yet, but you're welcome to stay and eat if you want to." Proposed Annie, making Peeta smile warmly in her direction.

"Maybe I will. Thank you." He replied and looked around. "Speaking of Katniss. Is she burrowed in the paper work again? I haven't seen her all day." He asked still looking around as if he expected her to jump at him from around the corner.

"She's in her bed apparently being sick like a dog." Replied simply Johanna. She watched with amusement as Peeta's expression suddenly dropped.

"She's sick? But… she's never sick!" He exclaimed worriedly. The last time he remembered her have as much as a runny nose was when she was still just a little kid.

"It's just a nasty cold. She was ready to get out here and work as always, but Gale forced her to stay." Said Annie soothingly, tying to ease his mind.

"Oh," he breathed, his expression still worried, "well… I think I'll go check up on her." He added making Annie smile warmly and nod her head. Jo snickered as she pretended to bend down to tie her shoelace.

"What do you think, how long until she kicks him out of her room?" Asked Annie as soon as Peeta disappeared up the stairs. "I'm giving him ten seconds." She added, making Johanna laugh out loud. She didn't think her sister was capable of making those kind of comments.

"Oh, come on, give the boy some credit." Replied Johanna teasingly. "I give him a minute. She has to wake up and realize it's him and you know she's kinda slow on the uptake."

Annie didn't laugh so hard in quite a while.

***W*L*L***

He opened the door gently, when he didn't hear her answer to his knocking. Her bedroom greeted him with darkness and he had to wait a couple of seconds to let his eyes adjust to the sudden change of lighting. He looked towards where he knew her bed stood and found her curled into a ball at her side as she laid in the gentle rays of light that peeked through the curtains. The sight of her made him realize how small she really was. Because of her tough character and leading skills she usually looked so fierce, one just didn't pay attention to the fact that she was a rather small woman. He liked that about her though and it never held her back from being uncommonly, as for a woman, strong and very feisty. He sighed as he looked at her slightly illuminated face and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. He knew why she caught the cold so easily. She simply wasn't taking care of herself for the last couple of weeks. He perched at the side of her bed and reached his hand to stoke her slightly tangled hair.

She slowly woke up at his ministrations and he hesitantly moved his hand from her hair to her arm and stroked it a couple of times. She sighed contently before realizing she wasn't alone and opening her eyes widely. She groaned at the sight of him.

"What are you doing in my bedroom, Peeta?" She croaked before reaching for a tissue and blowing her nose loudly. He stroked her arm again and sighed.

"Don't be pissed off, Katniss. I just found out you were sick and wanted to check up on you. I was worried." He replied and she felt a strange flutter in her chest at his admission. She realized she didn't mind his company so much and the gentle stroking of her hair she woke up to, was actually the nicest gesture someone has done for her since she was a child. She sighed and closed her eyes. She was going to allow herself just a one moment of weakness. Just this one. No more.

He was pleasantly surprised that she didn't immediately threw him out, more so by the fact that she seemed to lean into his touch. He hesitantly placed his hand back on her head.

"How are you feeling, baby?" He asked in a whisper and moved his hand onto her forehead. He could feel that she had quite a bit of a fever.

"I will feel better when you stop calling me 'baby'." She answered tiredly and he chuckled a little, recognizing the Katniss he knew again.

"I'm sorry, Katniss. It's just, seeing you like that kinda breaks my heart." He replied. She sighed and rolled onto her back making his hand that was still curled in her hair, fall slowly. It grazed her right breast accidentally and she didn't even notice. He certainly did. It took all of his willpower not to stop his hand and close it around her. He scolded himself for that thought, knowing that if he did anything like this, it would probably be the last thing he did in his life. Oblivious to his thoughts, she threw her arm across her face, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"It's all Gale's fault. I'm sure if I were at work right now, I wouldn't even have the time to think about how bad I'm actually feeling."

"Well, I think he did the right thing making you stay in bed, even if I have no idea how on earth he managed to convince you." Stated Peeta. Katniss sneezed loudly and replied in a muffled voice.

"He threatened he'll call you and tell you I'm asking for your help if I don't go back to bed." He laughed out loud at that, making her scowl at him.

"Oh, Kitty. You're so silly at times it's actually quite ridiculous." He replied and she only deepened her scowl.

"I'm glad to be such a great entertainment for you, from time to time." She rebutted angrily.

"Actually, you entertain me all the damn time, but it has nothing to do with you silliness." He replied with a smirk. "You have no idea, the effect you can have." He added. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean either, but she didn't have the time to ponder this or ask him about it, because Peeta's radio came to life releasing a wave of wracking sobs. They were both on their feet in a blink of an eye.

"Peeta!" Came a pathetic, tearful whine and Katniss's heart stopped at the sound of Prim's voice. She looked at Peeta's face. It was white like a sheet of paper. He fumbled with his belt to take out the radio, his hands shaking.

"Prim? Primmy, where are you?" He asked, panic evident in his voice. There was a couple of seconds of silence and Katniss stopped in the middle of putting her jeans over her pajama shorts and looked at the radio worriedly. "PRIM!" He yelled to the radio making Prim answer immediately. She released a couple of sobs before she started to talk.

"The… the stables… The Snow Rocks' stables."

They didn't wait even a second before they started out of the room and down the stairs. They heard a few questioning yells as they run by the living room where apparently, a few people were eating a dinner. It didn't take them long to reach the stables since they were both very fast runners. When they were younger they used to race a lot with Finnick and Gale always far behind them.

"PRIM!" Called loudly Peeta as he threw the doors to the stables wide open. They noticed her immediately. She was sitting in the corner, curled into a tight ball, but at the sight of her brother she jumped up and ran straight into his arms. He hugged her tightly as heartbreaking sobs wracked her body. "Prim… Prim, what happened?" He took her at arm's length and looked straight into his sister's eyes. "What happened, little duck, are you hurt?" He asked gently, borrowing Katniss' nickname for her and wiped the long tear tracks from her face. Just in that moment to Katniss' stuffed nostrils came the smell of death, she felt the last time, when Peeta and her found the butchered calf.

"Buttercup," was the only world Prim managed to choke out and Katniss was already half way through the stables only to stop dead on her tracks, when she came upon an opened stall. What she saw, made her feel lightheaded and bail rise to her throat. She only gasped and turned her head, speechless and unable to look at what was left of the orange cat. She heard Peeta calling her name as he ran towards her.

"Good God." Was his only exclamation and she looked at him. If she thought he was angry the last time, when they found the calf, he was absolutely enraged now. He ran his hand across his face.

"Katniss, take Prim outside please." He said gently.

"Peeta, this is my ranch. It's my respo…"

"Just take her outside!" Yelled Peeta making Katniss jump at the sudden harshness of his voice. She would take offence in normal circumstances, but his body was shaking violently. She took a hesitant step forward.

"Okay," she answered gently and reached out closing her hand around his bicep and squeezing it reassuringly. His expression softened, but now she could see he was close to tears and she immediately understood his sudden outburst. He didn't want to break in front of Prim, and her probably too, but he loved that dumb cat almost as much as Prim did.

"Just go." He croaked and taking her hand off his arm, squeezed it gently as well. She took Prim in her arms as soon as she reached her and she could hear Peeta change the waves in his radio and address Gale just as she left the stables with Prim still attached to her side.

She seated Prim down on one of the haystacks outside and then sat next to her, an arm still around the younger girl.

"Who would have done that, Katniss? Why?" Whined Prim, burrowing her face in Katniss' side and making her sigh loudly and rest her dark head on top of her blonde one.

"I don't know, little duck. I have no idea." Replied Katniss, stroking Prim's hair gently.

"Katniss!" It was Gale running their way with Johanna and Finnick close behind him. "What happened?" He asked as her reached them and placed his giant hand on top of Prim's head, when he heard her now quite sobs. "Are you okay?" he asked making Katniss nod.

"We are gonna be fine, just go inside Gale. Go to Peeta." Replied Katniss and reached out to squeeze her brother's hand.

"Okay. Okay." He nodded back and entered the stables with Finnick close behind him.

"Hey, what happened?" Asked Johanna, a strangely unnatural as for her gentleness in her voice. Katniss shook her head slightly.

"Buttercup… someone k…killed Buttercup. Why would they do that, Jo? Why?" Choked Prim making Johanna close her eyes and shake her head. She squatted in front of Prim and took the girl's hands into her own.

"I don't know, baby." She answered and glanced towards Katniss who was looking at the stables, still gently stroking Prim's arm. "I think we should go to the house." Stated Johanna. "I would make you a hot chocolate with marshmallows." She added. "Come on, Prim." She looked at Katniss and with her head pointed to the stables, letting her know that it was okay to live Prim with her. Katniss nodded shortly in thanks and kissed Prim's golden hair.

"But… Buttercup," Prim tried to protest, but Johanna turned her gently towards the road.

"Your brother is there and Gale and Finnick. Katniss will join them now and I'm sure they're going to take good care of him, Prim. Yeah?" Prim locked her teary eyes with Johanna's and nodded a couple of times wiping her nose and eyes with her sleeve.

"I'm sure Annie has more of that hot soup too, if you are hungry…" Katniss heard Johanna say as they moved down the road and towards Snow's mansion .

Katniss took a couple of calming breaths before she entered the stables again. She might not be the biggest fan of the cat, but she would never in her life hurt an animal, especially one that someone loved as much as the Mellarks loved Buttercup. When she opened the doors, Gale and Finnick's heads turned towards her, but Peeta kept crouching and tying a knot at the top of a white bundle. Katniss could only guess it was what remained of Buttercup wrapped into a white sheet. Only when he was done, Peeta lifted his head and noticed Katniss' presence.

"Prim is with Jo and Annie. She's gonna be fine with them, I promise." She answered before Peeta could ever ask and he nodded in thanks. "I'm so sorry, Peeta. So sorry. Whoever did that, they did it on my ranch. It was a message to me, nobody else. I'm sorry Prim had to… she had to… oh my God." Choked Katniss burrowing her head in her hands and she sobbed, just once, but it was enough for her brother to wrap an arm around her and say her name gently.

"Katniss, listen," started Peeta approaching her in two long strides. "Katniss, look at me." She lifted her head and seeing the gentle look in his red rimmed eyes, she felt like someone just clenched a fist around her heart. "I don't give a damn if that was a message for you or Gale or one of your sisters or anybody who lives on this ranch. We know each other since we can remember, always helped each other and stood by each others' sides. So if someone starts with you or anybody you love, they start we me." Katniss look into Peeta's determinate eyes and saw in them not only sadness, but also a kind of fire, she'd never seen in them before."And Finnick and our families." Added Peeta squeezing Katniss' shoulder gently. "You are not gonna get rid of us that easily, Kat. We are the three musketeers and you are our little sidekick." He stated making Katniss look offended and smile at the same time and he chuckled and wiped hurriedly the only one tear that slid down Katniss' olive cheek. "Would you kick me in the balls if I gave you a hug now?" He asked gently making Finnick and Gale chuckle, while Katniss gave him a crooked smile, a sniffle and a headshake. He took her in his arms and she burrowed her head in his shoulder.

"It's starting to get dangerous." Started Finnick quietly. "Whoever did that, they're getting closer to the house area." He added looking worriedly at Gale. Peeta reluctantly let go of Katniss and looked at his friends.

"Whoever it is, whatever their problem is, I have to find them." Started Katniss and then looked around at the faces of her closest friends. "We have to find them." She corrected, her eyes landing on Peeta's.

"Together?" He asked, still looking into hers.

"Together." She answered with a nod then looked at Gale and Finn.

"Together." They echoed in unison.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any chance for feedback, please?


	9. The Party

It was sad, that Prim's birthday was only a couple of days after she lost Buttercup. As silly as it may sound for some people, the death of the orange fur ball hit Primrose Mellark pretty hard. That was exactly why Katniss couldn't stop thinking of a way to make the young miss Mellark smile again. One thing was for sure- she was going to attend the birthday party, even if she hated those kind of things, and she was going to have the best time of her life, or at least pretend.

"Hey, Hollywood!" She called to her eldest sister as she run the very short distance to where she stood in front of the stables clothed in an old flannel shirt and a pair of jeans- an attire Katniss would never think she would see Johanna in. "What caused you to go all Montana? Are you sick?" Asked Katniss as she approached her sister with a teasing smile.

"No, I'm actually pretty well, thank you." She replied suspiciously too politely. "Your brother insisted on teaching me horse riding and I thought it might be a nice idea," she added. Katniss looked at her strangely, because she was pretty certain that Jo was the last person who would like to do anything ranchy.

"That's new. What caused you to decide that sitting at home and doing manicure isn't the only thing that matters in life?" Asked Katniss with a great amount of sass in her voice making Jo snort loudly.

"FYI cowgirl, every time I have a moment that you don't put me into work here I'm actually doing my job, the one that I'm paid for back in LA," replied Johanna making her younger sister raise her brow.

"So how's that soap opera of yours doing? Anything fun happening there?" Asked Katniss, just to humor her sister, because honestly, she didn't give a damn about Jo's scrip writing for some lame, never-ending tv show.

"Yes, actually the main character is pregnant with her girlfriend's brother," she replied making Kaniss snort with amusement. "And how's your life brainless? Still as boring as it always was?" Asked Johanna jokingly, but Katniss' mood changed completely at her sister's question.

"Well, unfortunately it's not, because there's some freak in this city who apparently loves to slaughter animals and leave it on my ranch's grounds so…" Johanna felt instantly bad that she asked the question. She might not be the biggest fan of Katniss, but she wasn't cruel and she knew how much her younger sister worried over this whole situation. She sighed loudly and then smiled at her sister with a chuckle.

"I have to tell you something," she stated and Katniss grimaced a bit at that announcement.

"If it's about the fact that you're sleeping with my brother then I don't want to hear anything about it." Replied Katniss making Johanna shake her head with a smirk.

"Nah, you already know about it so what's the fun in that? I wanted to tell you that I might be using this place in my book." She stated making Katniss look at her strangely.

"Book? What book?"

"Well, I'm kind of writing a book. I'm using the ranch as a background, but I swear the story is different." Katniss couldn't shake the surprise from her face. Writing a script for soap opera and writing a book were two entirely different things.

"Am I in it?" Asked Katniss, the same greatly surprising her older sister. She rather suspected Katniss would be furious and yell at her for using the great ranch for something as mundane as a book.

"Well I would say you were the inspiration for the main character but my cow girl is so much cooler than you are, brainless." Replied Jo making Katniss laugh loudly.

"Oh, I bet she is. I'm sure she has full make up all day and rides a horse in high heels," teased Katniss making her sister shake her head.

"Oh, you going with us Catnip?" Asked Gale suddenly appearing at Johanna's side. "We've wanted to invite Annie too, she loves riding, but she's God know where with Finnick," he added making Katniss grimace. She didn't want to hear anything about Annie and Finnick as well, even if it was only half as creepy as Gale and Jo's so called relationship.

"No talking about your sexual lives guys! My brain hurts," stated Katniss holding her head in her hands.

"What doesn't exist can't exactly hurt, brainless." Replied Johanna making Gale chuckle lowly.

"Screw you Hollywood, and you too Hawthorne." Groaned Katniss painfully. "Go, take a room, I don't want to look at the two of you right now." She added half jokingly and turned on her heel ready to leave only to turn right back when she remembered something. "And don't forget Prim's birthday party is today," she said regaining their attention. "God only knows why, but she would be disappointed if you weren't there." She added teasingly making Jo throw a middle finger her way. She left them chuckling to herself as she started down the road again. She waved to Haymitch who was walking her way from the garage.

"Hey there cowboy! What brings you here?" She asked with a smile. Haymitch tipped his hat at her, a manner that most of the cowboys were forgetting to do in her presence, and she smiled even wider.

"My jeep went down. Piece of shit. I think I'm exploiting it too much," he replied and Katniss sighed at the news.

"Guess I'll have to think of a couple of new cars. Mine is starting to act weirdly as well. What did Beete said at the damage?

"That he finally has something to do," replied Haymitch with a chuckle. "Seriously though, a funny thing. He said there was something off with the breaks… he couldn't quite explain it." Katniss knitted her brows at the news. It wasn't common that when something happened with one of their cars Beete didn't know what that was. As a matter of fact, Katniss always laughed that he was a car whisperer, because he seemed to know everything about them.

"Did he tell you anything at all?" She asked, making Haymitch shake his head in denial.

"No, but he promised he's going to make it work again, no matter what it is."

"Thanks for the info Haymitch. You coming to Prim's party tonight?" She asked making the older man chuckle.

"Nah, why would a young girlie like her want an old goat like me on a birthday party." He asked rhetorically with a laugh.

"I don't know about her, but you've been always my favorite guest on my birthday parties," she replied making the middle-aged rancher blush slightly.

"We will see sweetheart. Maybe I'll show up for a moment." Stated Haymitch looking at Katniss with slight concern. "You okay now, Katniss? That cold or whatever that shit was, made quite a number on you."

"I'm perfectly fine. Don't even remember I've had a cold." She replied truthfully. "Nothing two days in bed and a couple of bowls of chicken noodle soup couldn't fix." She added.

"Only most of one of this days you've spend out of bed because of that fucking idiot who butchered the Mellark's cat. It's a good thing the boy had enough of common sense to make you go back to bed."

"Thanks for reminding me I'm mad at him." Exclaimed Katniss. "I mean, what the hell Haymitch? He literally forced me to go to my room and lay down," she added with a slight outrage.

"You didn't seem to object so fiercely when he did that." Replied Haymitch with a smirk.

"I didn't have the energy to fight with him then, but now I'm perfectly fine to do that. Tell me, because maybe you know, why does he insist on treating me like a baby?" She asked angrily making Haymitch chuckle at her outrage.

"He doesn't treat you like a baby sweetheart. He treats you like a lady." Explained the cowboy, making Katniss knit her eyebrows in deep thought. "You should be grateful to him, really since every other cowboy in this place seems to treat you like you were a man," he added and Katniss snorted at his words. "Even that brother of yours, as good as he is for you, seems to forget sometimes that you're a lady, miss Everdeen." Katniss blushed at her mentor's words, but then smiled widely as she remembered when Gale and her were little and he tried to teach her how to pee without taking her pants off only to realize she couldn't do that.

Katniss thought of Peeta and the way he always acted around her and she realized that he really was basically the only one person who treated her differently. She always thought it was just because he was a nice boy, but when he grew up and used every opportunity he had to tease her senseless, she thought he was rather rude, but he still treated her differently.

"I don't know about that, he seems to take an awful amount of pleasure from making my life miserable every time he opens his mouth. Seriously, I thing his life goal is to annoy me to death." She stated making Haymitch laugh wholeheartedly.

"Oh, sweetheart. I start to think there isn't a thing on this world that this boy wouldn't do to gain you attention. I think he tried nearly everything as well," commented Haymitch with a laugh.

"Gain my attention? Why would he… oh?"

"Seriously Katniss, the whole Montana can see Peeta is crazy about you, yet you are still as oblivious as you were when you were five." He stated. "It's not the place for this kind of conversation anyway and I ain't no the right person to talk with about such things. You have two sisters and there's always Sea, who I bet would die for some gossip. Don't you bother my old heat with this… stuff." Katniss laughed at him loudly.

"You've started that topic yourself old man, I'm the one who thinks everything you said is a pile of bullshit." She replied making the older man shake his head with a chuckle.

"Suit yourself sweetheart, but don't come crying to me when the boy realizes he doesn't have a chance with you and moves on to some blonde big-cheasted bimbo."

***W*L*L***

"No chance in hell, Hollywood."

"Seriously Katniss… I think Jo is right… just this one time."

"Yeah, I think Prim would appreciate it."

Katniss sighed loudly. How on earth her sisters managed to realize so soon that by bringing Primrose Mellark to the conversation, they could manipulate Katniss' mind to change immediately. It was cruel. So cruel. Katniss Everdeen didn't wear dresses… just no. Even at her father's funeral she was wearing suit pants. No dresses. At all. But those damn sisters of hers just made her do that and what was even worse, Katniss knew that Prim would actually love to see her older friend in a dress.

"I'm leaving, do whatever you want, but I don't have matching shoes anyway!" Yelled Katniss over her shoulder, leaving Johanna's bedroom with a huff.

She ran down the stairs and outside, unable to stay long in the suffocating house. It was a huge house, but it wasn't home. Katniss didn't have a thing that truly belonged to her there. The office was all in hunting trophies that she hated more than everything, and in the living room, above the big fireplace, hung a big ugly portrait of her father. As much as she loved the fireplace, she hated the portrait more. Even in her own bedroom there weren't many things that belonged to her. She couldn't even hang a poster with her favorite band above her bed when she was a teenager, because her father thought that it was not only silly and childish but also blemished HIS house. The only things that belonged to her was the stuffed bear, Haymitch gave her when she was a baby, the books she loved to read in her free time, some of them presents, some of them she bought herself, her bow, that stood proudly in the corner of the room, the one that Gale had custom made for her when she turned fourteen and a silly plastic fake pearl necklace that Peeta accidentally got from a vending machine and gave it to her with a blush when she was about ten. No matter how much Sae tried to make Katniss feel at home in Snow's Manor, she never really did. She lived at this place, but it was never truly her home.

She startled lightly out of her deep thoughts when she heard a couple of loud honks nearby. She didn't have enough time to look the way of the sound, when the car appeared in front of her with Peeta Mellark's smiling face peeking from the driver's seat. She raised her eyes to the sky.

"Oh, just fucking awesome." She muttered to herself as she took the steps down from the porch and towards him. "You lost your way Mellark?" She yelled his way as she approached his car.

"No, actually I'm exactly where I want to be," he replied with a smile and she raised her eyebrows at him.

"What got you all smiley and stuff?" She asked curiously as she watched his grin widen even more.

"I gotta show you something." He said as he got out of the car and moved towards the backseat. "I'm just coming back from the Undersee's ranch. Madge called me in the morning, said she wanted to see me." He added. Katniss felt something strange flutter in her chest as she heard him say that and for some reason remembered Haymitch's words about Peeta moving on to another. Maybe it was because Madge actually was a big-chested blonde, but she was also very intelligent and big hearted. She was the local vet and one of the nicest people Katniss has ever known.

"Oh," replied Katniss with a little dose of unwanted resignation in her voice. "Did you have fun on your date?"

"Date?" He asked with confusion and then laughed loudly when he realized the meaning of Katniss' words. "With Madge Undersee?" He asked with amusement. "Don't confuse me with our brothers Kitty, they were the ones who chased after her their whole adolescence," he added with a smirk. "I was there for an entirely different purpose. Look here." He opened the door and beckoned her with the movement of his hand toward a rather big box that lay on the backseat. She approached it hesitantly as if afraid of what she might see there, but the moment she peeked inside the box, she grinned widely and released a strange sound that Peeta hadn't heard her make ever before.

"Oh my God, they're so darn cute!" She exclaimed at the sight of two greater Swiss mountain dog puppies. He smiled widely at her enthusiasm.

"I know, right? I told Madge once that I wanted a dog and she promised me she would call me as soon as she will know someone's had puppies." He replied stroking one of the pup's head. Katniss now had one of the dogs in her arms and cooed at it while it licked her all over her face. "Awww dammit, he likes you," he stated with only a bit of resignation. "I took them both, couldn't stand the thought of taking only one of them. The one that has more brown is actually a she. I want her for Prim's birthday present. She always wanted a dog, but then she found Buttercup."

"That's a fantastic idea, I bet she would love her. I can't come up with a present for Prim. Is there anything that would make her happy? Besides the dog I mean. I hate seeing her miserable after what happened to Buttercup." Asked Katniss. Peeta thought about it for a moment and then shook his head in denial.

"Can't really think of anything. Maybe something girly… like a dress or ribbons or some other thing that I can't think of because I have no idea what girls her age like," he replied making the younger rancher grimace, because if there was something she had absolutely no idea about it was girly things. "Well she did also wanted a horse since she doesn't quite have her own," he added jokingly but Katniss looked at him with a wide grin.

"You wouldn't believe that but my white mare just had a baby a couple of weeks ago. You think she would like a white horse?" She asked with a big smile.

"Katniss you can't give my sister a horse." Replied Peeta looking at her like she lost her mind.

"Why?" He laughed at the question.

"Well, because … it's a horse!" He stated making her rise her eyebrows. "They are big, expensive and… that's just…"

"It's not like I can't afford to give one of the foals to a friend, Peeta. Damn, it came out wrong." She said cringing a little at the way she sounded. "I mean I just have the opportunity to make a present like that and you know how much I love Prim," she added. He looked at her with something incredibly gentle and bright in his eyes and she quite couldn't make herself break the eye contact she had with him. "But… maybe it's not such a good idea… I don't wanna spoil your present." She added and he smiled.

"The only thing spoiled will be Prim herself," he replied with a laugh, "but Katniss…" He hesitated. "It's a horse, are you really sure? We can always wait for the births season. I was actually going to buy her one of your foals then."

"No need to buy." She replied decisively. "Prim's getting her horse today," she added. Peeta shook his head.

"She's going to explode. A dog, a horse… everything she wanted. You know how she loves animals."

"Oh, I know that all right. Now I'm pretty excited too." She replied and startled slightly as she felt rather forceful pull on her braid. Peeta laughed loudly at the sight of the puppy tugging at her hair.

"Oh, he likes to tug on your braid too, just like me." He said with mirth. "Well I kinda thought that maybe I'll take him for myself, but now I think he already chose his owner," he added making Katniss look at him startled when she realized what he said.

"You mean me?"

"Whoever else you thought. Of course you." He replied. "You've always loved dogs as well, I remember how you adored the old sheepheard that Finnick's gran used to own. And he loved you too. Fallowed you everywhere even when he was actually too old to run."

"My father never let me have a dog. He couldn't stand the idea of it ruining something in his precious mansion."

"Well, I think it's finally the time to start live your life the way you want, not the way your father wanted you to, Kitty. The house is yours now. Yours and your sister's and somehow I think they wouldn't mind." Stated Peeta, both firmly and gently and Katniss locked her eyes with his again. Unknowingly, he just said what she needed to hear and she decided that he had to know about it.

"That's amazing, that you always know just the right thing to say." She commented making him chuckle a bit.

"A gift I don't quite understand myself," he replied and she smiled at him, cradling the now slightly fidgeting puppy. "He matches your hair." He added pointing at the dog with his head. "You two look good together, you should keep him."

"Can I? Now that I have him in my arms, I don't think I can let him go." She said squeezing the dog to her chest slightly. "I will pay you back for him," she added but Peeta shook his head with amusement.

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't want your money. He's yours." He stated simply and she did something that surprised herself as much as it surprised him. She wrapped her free arm around him in a fierce hug. When he circled his arms around her, she couldn't help herself and burrowed her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent. He smelled of soap, fresh air and something that a rancher shouldn't smell off. Cinnamon. She smiled at that and realized, that the statement she used about the dog a minute earlier could as easily describe the way she felt about the man she now held in her arms.

***W*L*L***

"Holly shit, am I hallucinating or did Katniss Everdeen really put on a dress?" Asked Finnick with bewilderment making Peeta turn the way of the entrance so fast that the sudden movement made his head spin. There she was, really wearing a dress and she looked more stunning than Peeta ever saw her look in her life. She had her hair down, curled slightly at the ends, the bottle green dress hugging her frame just in the right places. She wore cowboy boots to the outfit, that one could probably call mismatched, but for Peeta they were just perfect for both her and the dress. He smiled a bit as he noticed she even put on some makeup, or it were more likely her sisters who forced her to put it on. She looked a bit lost, which was strange because she was in their house loads of times and he suspected it had something to do with the fact that she felt slightly uncomfortable in her outfit. He openly stared at her now, making Finnick and Gale sinicker at him behind his back, but he didn't give a damn. By now probably whole Montana knew how he felt about Katniss Everdeen. Whole Montana beside the only person that really needed to know. She searched the room for someone and he was sure that she wanted to find the birthday girl, so it was very surprising for him when her eves found him and she waved him over impatiently. He raised his eyebrows, but approached her hurriedly.

"Here you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." She stated with a hint o pretension in her voice and he smiled with amusement at her tone and raised his eyebrows as she automatically adjusted his tie. It felt strangely intimate.

"I was here all the time miss Everdeen, just a little dazed by your beauty. You're always beautiful Kitty but tonight you've reached a whole new level." He stated and she huffed with annoyance.

"Don't mock me, Peeta. It's a low blow even for you." She replied with a bit of annoyance and he raised his hands in an act of surrender.

"I would never dream of doing it Katniss. Everything I've said is true and comes straight from my heart." He added and thought that there was at least one more part of his body that reacted to her beauty, but he wasn't going to mention it to her. She looked at him skeptically, but had to see something in his eyes, because she blushed faint pink that on her olive cheeks looked unbelievably pretty.

"Well in this case, thank you very much. And you look quite charming yourself." She replied making him smile widely. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "I was looking for you, because I wanted to know if you've given your present to Prim yet." She said, changing the topic to a much safer one.

"Not yet," he replied with a shake of his head. "Actually I was kinda waiting for you. Thought that if we both have such big and squeal-causing presents it would be nice to give my sister a heart attack just once." He replied making her chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

***W*L*L***

Katniss, Peeta and the rest of the guests were sure that the whole Montana heard Primrose Mellark's enthusiasm when she was presented with a horse and a dog at the same time. She screamed, cried tears of joy and squeezed the hell out of her brother and the girl who was like a sister to her at the same time. Rye Mallark, whose present of books and a dress looked quite pale in front of the dog and horse shook his head at his younger brother and neighbor.

"I literally hate you guys. We were super excited when Delly found the dress. It was exactly what Prim wanted, but the two of you had just go all the way and give her a freaking menagerie." He stated making Peeta and Katnis snicker. "What the hell are we going to give her next year?" He asked, his eyes widening. Katniss laughed loudly.

"The amazing thing about Prim is that no matter what you give her she's always gonna be grateful and excited. That's why we all love her so much and want to spoil her to bits." She said watching as the young girl played with her new dog, carefree laughter escaping her lips every now and then. "Plus, she's such a good girl, it's practically impossible to spoil her." She added after a moment. Peeta smiled at Katniss' words, not only because he believed them truth, but also because he thought exactly the same about her. The only difference was that Katniss never had the chance to be spoiled by anybody. Quite the opposite actually. There were always huge expectations and almost no joys in her life and when he was just a teenager and Snow forbidden Katniss to have her friends over for her birthday, Peeta remembered how sad she was about it. She was always a tough girl and she tried not to show it, but he knew she was hurt. He promised himself that day that when the time comes he would do everything he can to spoil Katniss Everdeen on every possible occasion.

"Did you name your dog yet, Katniss?" He asked with a smile and she returned it easily.

"Katniss' dog?" Asked Delly as she approached them with Tony in her arms. Peeta smiled as Katniss cooed at the little boy. Delly smiled too and handed the baby to a little startled Katniss.

"What if I hurt him?" She asked but Delly only laughed a bit at her neighbor.

"You won't hurt him Katniss, just trust me." She replied as she helped her hold the baby properly.

"He's so cute, I can't believe he's your baby Rye." She teased as she gently cradled the baby in her arms. Rye laughed loudly and placed a kiss on Dellys head.

"He got it from his mother." He replied making Delly burrow her face in his shirt.

"That explains awfully lot." Replied Katniss with a smirk.

"I don't know guys," started Peeta," the Mellark boys are all quite cute and charming. I don't know why you think Tony shouldn't." He added making Katniss laugh loudly. She kissed Tony's little head.

"Forget it Mellark. The two of you can't even compare to this guy's looks and cuteness. Seriously…" She said and turned around as she heard a deep chuckle behind her.

"Well Katniss, now they are both old and ugly, but when they were little boys they were actually pretty darn cute." Stated Bannock Mellark as he smirked at his sons.

"That was just rude, dad." Commented Peeta when Katniss laughed loudly at Mr. Mellark's statement.

"Actually, what's quite funny, Tony looks almost like Peeta when he was his age." Stated Mr. Mellark making Katniss chuckle and Rye look strangely at Delly and his brother.

"Anything you want to tell us guy?' Asked Gale, who joined the conversation with Finnick in tow a few seconds after Bannock Mellark. Delly huffed a bit and Peeta winked at his brother suggestively what cost him an elbow to the ribs. He yelped in pain and then laughed at his brother's reaction. Katniss didn't even realize that the baby in her arms fell asleep during all the commotion.

"Just to clarify, if anyone had any doubts, Tony is definitely Rye's baby and despite the whole love I have for Peeta the mare though of… is just… eww…" she winced making everybody laugh and Peeta take a fake offence.

"You're not my type either, oh dear sister-in-law," he replied.

"Oh, I know." She said and Katniss could swear that she quickly glanced her way. "So, you were talking about a dog." She reminded and Katniss smiled widely at the mare thought of the puppy.

"Oh yeah, he's Prim dog's brother actually," stated Katniss. "Peeta geve him to me earlier today." Everybody looked at Peeta curiously.

"He chose her, I had no choice." He answered winking at Katniss who chuckled a bit at his statement.

"I thought about calling him Fidget, since so far he seems to be unable to stay calm for more than fifteen seconds." Said Katniss with a smile making Peeta grin widely.

"It suits him," he stated.

"I'm glad you like it, you should have a say in naming him, since he was supposed to be your dog." She replied making everybody laugh.

"Well, I think the name is perfect."

"Fidget it is, then."

"Fidget it is."

***W*L*L***

"Oh hell no." Groaned Rye some time later. They were sitting on the porch, him with Delly curled on his lap half asleep, Gale with a hand thrown carelessly over Johanna's shoulder, Finnick with Annie, who besides being practically glued to his side, didn't show him any other kind of public affection and Katniss and Peeta who sat next to each other feeling slightly out of place. Rye elbowed his younger brother in the side and pointed his head to the young couple that stood under the nearest tree. Katniss chuckled at the sight of Prim and Rory, who being a complete gentlemen or out of fear towards Primrose's elder brothers, showed his affection for the younger girl only by holding her small hand in his bigger one. "If he touches her I'm gonna kill him, Katniss and you'll have to find yourself a new employee." He added and Katniss snorted a bit at that statement.

"Seriously, Rye. The boy is perfectly respectful. Plus he knows what he's doing." She added making Johanna hum and nod in agreement.

"What does it mean, he knows what he's doing?" Asked Peeta, a bit panicked and Katniss patted his shoulder to calm him down.

"Well he just came here looking all handsome and shit, gave her flowers and asked on a date…"

"He asked her on a date?!" Exclaimed Rye jumping up a bit and startling Delly from her nap.

"Geeze, chill Mellark!" Said Johanna, her eyes widening at Rye outburst. "Is not like he's fucking her under that tree," she added making Peeta grit his teeth. Katniss threw Johanna an angry look and Gale patted her knee lightly as if to let her know that it would be better if she just shut up.

"Don't mind Johanna guys," started Annie in a gentle voice, "she's just teasing you. Rory seems to be a nice boy and he is a total gentleman with your sister. You have to face it, she's going to start dating guys…"

"Or girls…" Jo threw in.

"… sooner or later." Finished Annie with a little smile.

"I would rater she started later." Murmured Rye as Delly rubbed his arm calmingly, a little smile gracing her lips. "He gave her flowers? And asked her on a date?" He asked as if he couldn't believe it and Katniss shook her head at him.

"What's so strange about it? When a boy cares for a girl he buys her flowers, tells her he likes her and asks her on a date." She explained with a shrug.

"Works every damn time." Added Johanna making all the present men look at her strangely. "What?"

"That's bull, Jo. I don't believe it works every time." Stated Peeta shaking his head in denial.

"It does." Stated Katniss making Gale snort a bit.

"Don't tell me you would fall for that, sis." He said to his sister and Katniss shrugged her shoulders a bit.

"Well, it's not like someone has ever done anything like that for me," she stated and rubbed her nose awkwardly, "but I guess if a guy felt for me that way he would just have to try that to find out." She finished with a little shrug.

Peeta felt like he should just stand up and go bang his head against a wall for as long as it would take for him to realize why on earth didn't he think of the most simple idea that exists.

***W*L*L***

Katniss was the last to leave the party. It was mostly because Prim wanted her to be present when she opened all of her presents and gushed about every single one of them while her new dog- Sandy, played with the pieces of wrapping paper.

"It was a wonderful party little duck, I've had a fantastic time." She stated placing a kiss on the younger girl's forehead and she realized she didn't have to bend the truth even a bit. It really was a great party and she really had a lot of fun. Something she needed greatly after everything that happened lately.

"Thank you for everything Katniss. Your present was the best of all!" She exclaimed while Peeta cleared his throat behind her, Katniss smirked his way. "Okay Peet, your present was as awesome as Katniss'," she changed her statement making Peeta smile proudly.

"I'm gonna dive you home Katniss." Stated Peeta making Katniss shake her head in denial.

"Thanks, but I have my own car." She replied dangling the car keys as an indication.

"Yeah I know, but I would rather go with you, it's already dark." He stated 'and we all should be more careful because of what's happening around here.' He tried to communicate with his eyes. He didn't want to say it out loud, because he wasn't sure he wanted Prim to know how concerned they all are.

"I'm gonna be perfectly fine, Peeta. I'll be home soon enough." 'And I have my Winchester on the backseat.' She communicated back. He sighed loudly and shook his head at her, knowing he's not going to win with her.

"Okay, but be careful and call us when you're home. Can you do that?" He asked and she nodded a couple of time.

"Sure thing." She answered and sent him a half smile.

"See you soon guys," she said peeking her head into the living room and smiled when everyone answered back with goodbyes and wishes of goodnight. "Thanks again Primmy. Peeta," she added hugging Prim again and squeezing Peeta's arm awkwardly before leaving the house.

She felt weird and a little bit guilty that she refused Peeta's proposition to drive her home. She didn't like driving alone at night, but she wasn't going to admit it to anybody, especially him. She drove a little bit faster than usual, anxious to get to the house soon so she startled a bit when she saw a doe who run on the road. She hit the brakes with full force only to realize they weren't working so she turned the wheel to the right to avoid crashing into the animal. She didn't realize that she wouldn't be able to gain control of the car again and she crashed into a tree with full force, hitting her head against the wheel. She yelped loudly when her forehead made contact with the hard plastic and the car came to a full stop. She groaned and reached her hand to her forehead feeling thick wetness against it. The last thing she saw was the red on her palm and the last thing she heard was the distant sound of a voice frantically calling her name. It was Peeta's voice.

She heard him call her name one more time before everything went black.

TBC...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my! Sorry for the cliffhanger. :) I feel so evil right now. I hope I'll be able to update soon so you don't have to wait long to know what happens next :) Thanks for kudos and comments. I really appreciate every single one of them!


	10. The Winter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi folks! I'm half asleep as I'm posting it, but I wanted so badly for you to have the next chapter. I'm sorry for all the mistakes. I hope there's not a lot of them. I love you all and I hope you'll like the chapter.

"Katniss…" she heard her name spoken in barely above a whisper. "She's waking up." Added the voice a little louder and as she gained a bit more of awareness, she realized with amazement that the last thing she heard before she lost her consciousness and the first thing she heard after she regained it was the sound of her name spoken by exactly the same man but in entirely different manner. She tried to open her eyes, but as soon as she managed to lift her unnaturally heavy eyelids, she shut them tightly again, blinded by the bright hospital light and the piercing pain in her confused head.

"Catnip, can you hear me?" This time it was her brother's voice and she tried again to open her eyes for his sake. She did that, forcing through the pain and blinked a couple of times to adjust to the brightness.

"Oh my God, you scared us to death." Whispered Peeta and Katniss noticed that he indeed looked like death itself. He was paler than normally, which due to his light complexion gave a greenish shade to his creamy skin and his hair was ruffled and sticking in all possible directions, what Katniss would actually find kind of sexy if it weren't for the tortured look in his ocean blue eyes. She would laugh at the fact that both men held to her hands like if afraid, she would disappear if they let go, if only the circumstances were different. She focused on their touch instead, as the pain in her head caused her to close her eyes again, even if for just a moment. She noticed the difference in the way the two boys were holding her hands. Gale was squeezing the hell out of her right one, holding for dear life. She would tell him she can't feel her fingers if she weren't so touched by his concern. Peeta on the other hand… Peeta held her hand so gently, that she would be probably barely able to feel it if it weren't for the warmth that radiated from his huge palm. His thumb was gently stroking her fingers and she realized with a start that she enjoyed the sensation more than she would care to admit.

"What happened?" She whispered, her voice hoarse from the lack of usage as she cracked her eyes open once more. Both Gale and Peeta looked even more concerned as she asked the question.

"You don't remember?" Asked Peeta quietly, and the pounding pain in her head, made her grateful for his lowered voice. She furrowed her brows for a moment, trying to remind herself of what happened, but for some reason, the only thing she could remember was Peeta frantically calling her name.

"You screamed for me." She said in a whisper looking straight into Peeta's eyes. She could still hear it in her head. "I remember you calling my name and… I was in a car, wasn't I?" She asked looking at him as if her held the answers to every questions in the world. He looked at her with a softness and gentleness in his eyes she'd never seen in them before, even towards Prim.

"I followed you," he admitted sheepishly, "after you didn't agree to let me drive you home. I just wanted to make sure you made your way back safely." He added, rubbing the thin scar on his chin with the fingers of his other hand. He looked like he was in pain himself and she wondered if that accident really looked so badly that it caused him to look so concerned. That's when she remembered the dark road, the doe and...

She jerked up so suddenly that she startled both of them greatly, only to groan loudly and jerk her hands out of theirs to hold onto her head and chest tightly as the pain shot through her at the sudden movement. They both called her name loudly in panic.

"Hey, hey, calm down." Said Peeta at the same time as Gale exclaimed "what are you doing, crazy?!"

She fell back against her pillows and tried to catch her breath.

"I'll go find the doctor." Stated Peeta and she jerked again and grabbed his hand to stop him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She chanted between frantic breaths and they both looked at her doubtfully. "Just didn't realize it would hurt so fucking much." She added with a wince and they susspected that the admission that she was in pain hurt her even more than the injuries themselves.

"You sure?" Asked Gale and she nodded opening her eyes again.

"You have a concussion and three cracked ribs, Kitty." Commented Peeta and she noticed that he started to stroke her fingers again. "Sudden movements are definitely nor recommended right now." He added, for some reason making her smile faintly, but only for a moment, until she realized what caused her to jerk up in the first place. The smile fell from her face as she sucked on a breath.

"I didn't hit the tree because of the doe," she stated suddenly, immediately gaining their attention. She was certain that the accident looked like she didn't hit the breaks in time, all the while the truth was entirely different. "I wouldn't hit her in the first place, if the breaks worked all right." She added looking first at one of them, then at the other. Peeta's eyes winded twice their size when the realization of what she was trying to say, slowly registered in his mind.

"Wait… what are you saying Katniss?" Asked Gale, making her close her eyes and take a deep breath.

"Either the breaks in my car were a complete junk or… someone wanted me dead."

***W*L*L***

The next day the police confirmed that the car was sabotaged and Finnick informed her that they want to talk with her about the accident. When he mentioned it earlier that day all three- Gale, Peeta and Katniss' doctor protested immediately, saying that she needed more time to recover, before Finn even managed to add the "when she feels better" part of the sentence. He laughed a bit when he told her the story when he visited her some time later, amazed of the protectiveness that her brother and Peeta showed towards her on every possible occasion. She realized, slightly surprised herself, that she didn't mind it as much as she did barely a couple of days ago. Maybe it was because this time, she really felt vulnerable what made her more uncomfortable than anything ever could. Katniss Everdeen was always considered a strong woman. One that could take care not only of herself but of a lot of things as well. She felt like she failed now, because she wasn't even at the ranch. Her ranch. She fought so hard with her sisters when her father's will was read, convinced that she deserved this place much more than they did, but it turned out that now, it was Annie and Jo who were there, helping Gale and Haymitch with all the work she left them with. She couldn't feel more useless than she did now, laying in the hospital bed and thinking of all the things that she should be doing right now, if she could.

She felt better already. The pain in her head lessened a bit, what could either mean that she was healing, or that the doctors gave her more morphine in her drip than before. She still had problems with breathing though, and she was pissed off at her cracked ribs and the way they caused her to be completely immobile. She grabbed her phone from the night stand table and was ready to call Haymitch to at least bring her some paper work she could work on, while being grounded in the hospital bed, but she didn't get the chance to make the call, because a gentle knock against the doorframe made her look that way with a start. For some reason she couldn't help the little smile that crept on her face when she saw Peeta standing in the door. Usually his presence made her annoyed, but this time he came particularly to see her, not to supervise the ranch. She was so bored anyway, that she would be glad even if she were visited by the devil himself.

"Can I come in?" He asked hesitantly and she rolled her eyes at him and beckoned him with her hand.

"Of course you can." She answered and he smiled as he approached her and presented her with a handful of flowers, that he drew out from behind his back. She felt her chest tighten a bit at the sight of the composition of wild flowers and seeds and she smiled warmly.

"For you." He stated gently and she took that bouquet and burrowed her nose in it. It smelt like the meadow in spring and when she looked out of the window and saw the snow falling slowly from the sky she frowned a bit and then laughed lightly.

"Thank you, they are beautiful. You had me fooled here for a moment. I thought it was already spring." She said and he chuckled as he took a seat at the side of her bed. She stroked the delicate chamomile petals as she frowned in deep thought. "I'm so worried Peeta." She said out of the blue, completely changing the mood. He looked at her with concern and automatically, as if his body had a mind of its own, he reached out to take her hand.

"I promise you Katniss I won't let anything bad happen to you again. Even if it meant I'll have to follow you everywhere." He said and she looked at him startled from her deep thoughts.

"I'm not worried about me…" she stated and he chuckled a bit at her admission.

"Of course you aren't," he replied with a shake of his head knowing that Katniss always worried about herself as the very last.

"I'm worried about the ranch, what will happen to it. I'm not there and there's so much to do. My father's been right all along, Peeta. He's been fucking right. I don't deserve an inch of this soil." She stated quietly, and to her utter horror, she released that her voice broke and a couple of tears slid down her cheeks. The tears made her way only as far as the middle of her cheeks though and then, Peeta's hands were suddenly there, cradling her face, his thumbs wiping the salty drops away.

"Oh, Kitty." He said so gently and quietly that something incredibly warm fluttered in her chest. "When will you stop underestimating yourself?" He asked with a little shake of his head. She sniffled a bit and looked down, embarrassed by her tears. He noticed that she didn't even protest when he used that nickname anymore and he had a hard time deciding if he should be glad or concerned about her well being. He'd never seen her quite so vulnerable before and it made him want to cry himself that someone could do that to his strong, fierce Katniss.

"Katniss, look at me." He said and gently lifted her head, making his heart go crazy when her eyes locked with his. "You are the strongest, most hard-working and probably the best person that I've ever known. You've done on Snow Rocks so much more than anyone ever did, even Haymitch who works there since I can remember. You know why is that, Katniss? It's because you gave this ranch your time, you gave it all the hard work you could muster, but most importantly, you gave it your heart." He stated and she sniffled again, comforted more than anything not only by his words, but also, or maybe most importantly, by his warm, gentle hands that sill cradled her cheeks. "You have more problems now, than your father ever did in his life and the ranch is still working. It even wouldn't be an overstatement if I said that it's working now better than it used to when he was running it." He said and she shook her head.

"Even if it were true, that's not thanks to me." She stated stubbornly and he opened his mouth to protest but she didn't give him the chance. "No, it really isn't." She said again. "It's thanks to Haymitch and Gale and all the men, even my sisters… and you." She added shamefully. "My father knew that I won't be able to do it, that's why he named you the supervisor. Maybe he was right all along and I'm simply too weak to do all of this."

"Katniss you are in a hospital bed and if even this is not stopping you from calling your men every half an hour and giving them instructions and advices than nothing is. If that's not how a ranch is supposed to be run I don't know what is." Replied Peeta, starting to get frustrated. "You have no idea, no idea at all how much I hate your father for making you think badly about yourself and for making you constantly underestimate yourself." He added and she looked at him questioningly. "I just wish with all my heart that you could, if only just once in your life, see yourself the way that the rest of the world sees you." He stated and she realized she can't stop looking into his eyes, that suddenly gained a new quality about them, one that she quite couldn't place."I wish you could see yourself the way Gale sees you, having a hard time deciding if he should feel exceptionally proud of his little sister or miserable, because you are so much better at those things than he is." She chuckled at that but shook her head in denial. He didn't stop talking. "Or the way your sisters see you, when they look at you with respect and admiration. Yes, even Jo." He added when she looked at him skeptically and opened her mouth to say something. "The way Haymitch and Sea see you, when they look at you with pride, because deep down they know that they were really the ones that raised you, not your father. The way your men see you, wondering how is it possible that you are such a good boss, because I'm sure most of them would never, ever think that a woman could run a ranch as successfully as you do. The way my sister sees you," he added with a smirk, "the way she's all 'Katniss this and Katniss that', because she's absolutely crazy about you and she wants to be mini Katniss. Well, maybe more blonde." She laughed through her tears at that, thinking of cute, pure Prim Mellark, who had no reason at all to want to be anyone but herself. "And the way I see you..." He finally stated, pausing for a moment to swallow the hard the lump that rose in his throat. "and wonder every damn day of my life, how is it possible that someone as wonderful as you came from such an asshole of a father. Someone so strong, form such a coward who couldn't have enough of balls to take care of his own children, someone so good and considerate from someone who treated people like garbage, someone so beautiful and full of light from someone who was filled with only ugliness and darkness. Someone…"

"Peeta…" She stopped him in a gentle voice and covered one of his hands, still cradling her cheeks, with her own. "…stop. I know you mean well, but… this is whole lot of bullshit." She said and he chuckled a bit and shook his head at her. Then, he did something that made her hold her breath while her heart beat furiously. His face moved dangerously close to hers and she was almost sure he was going to kiss her, so she closed her eyes, not knowing what to think about it when instead of on her lips, she felt his soft ones pressed to her forehead. He didn't let go for quite a while, but when he did she released the breath she was holding, noticing that it came out in a form of a contented sigh.

"I've never said so much truth in one monologue," he admitted with a laugh.

"That was very beautiful," she stated quietly. "Everything that you said." She added looking at him with wonder. She always knew he had a way with words, but she'd never in her life heard him say anything quite so beautiful . She felt strangely special that she was the one who the words were spoken to, even if she still didn't believe they were true.

"It's because I was talking about an extremely beautiful woman." He replied and she blushed, not knowing what to really think of all of it. She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Why did you so suddenly decide that I'm beautiful?" She asked, truthfully curious and he laughed as if she just said the most hilarious joke of all.

"Oh Katniss, there's absolutely nothing sudden about it." He answered making her even more confused. "I thought you were beautiful the moment I laid my eyes on you, when you were just a baby, but you kept growing and getting older and every time I looked at you I found you even more beautiful than the last time. It happens every day, every fucking time I see your gorgeous face." He confessed and once again reached his hand to her face and cradled her cheek, brushing his thumb against her soft skin. "I didn't even realize when it happened, but one day I just noticed that I'm a total goner." He added and she looked at him like she never looked at him before. If she understood correctly what he was saying, he had feelings for her ever since they were kids. It was like someone switched on something inside of her and she started to see so many things differently. The way he acted towards her, the way he tried to impress her when they were kids, the way he teased her when they were older and tried to get any reaction from her, even if it was anger. She saw the way he always made sure to take care of her and treat her like a lady, not only because she was a girl, but because she was the girl he cared for. She remembered all the dirty looks he'd thrown the boys at school when they wanted to approach her. She was always mad at him because she was sure he teamed up with Gale and wanted to act all brotherly. Now she finally saw that he was simply jealous. She felt suddenly very warm inside at the thought, that maybe it was not only her that always secretly wanted him, even if she never fully admitted it even to herself. She closed her eyes at the revelation and leaned more into his touch. He moved his thumb a bit and instead of caressing her cheek, he run it against her soft lips. She shuddered at the sensation and opened her eyes only to find him closer to her that he'd ever been. She realized that right now, she wanted him to kiss her, to finally feel how it is kiss Peeta Mellar.

"Katniss…" he spoke in a whisper and his minty breath fanned across her face. She locked her eyes with his. "After all of those silly thing that I've done in my life to gain you attention, I really don't understand how on earth didn't you ever notice that I've loved you since I can remember."

She didn't answer, because she didn't understand it either. She could see it in his eyes so clearly right now. She let herself forget about everything that she'd ever thought of relationships and love and she did what she waited for him to do since he'd told her she was beautiful. She closed the barely existing gap between them by pressing her lips against his. She kind of caught him off guard, but he recovered pretty quickly and immediately wanted to respond to her kiss, only to realize that her lips were already away from his and a little smirk was gracing her features. He knew her well enough to know that she had a tease on the tip of her tongue.

"You see?" She asked in a whisper as their noses brushed against each other. "Bringing flowers for a girl and telling her how you feel, when played the right way, should be enough to gain her attention." She said making him chuckle a little as she brought back the conversation they all shared at Prim's birthday party.

"Does it mean you'll let me take you out on a date?" He asked with a hopeful smile and she chuckled a bit at his puppy dog expression.

"I think the only way for you to find out, is to ask."

***W*L*L***

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard ginger. " Stated Johanna as she toughly pulled the grey backpack from her sister's hands and threw it forcefully to the corner of the room.

"No, Johanna. I have to do this, don't you understand?!" Yelled Annie through her tears as she struggled to put together all of her things that her elder sister made sure were all over the room's floor.

"What the hell is happening in here?!" Yelled Katniss as she stumbled into the room, catching her breath and holding onto her still sore ribs. Only the day before she came back from the hospital after five days of recovery and she still wasn't in her top shape.

"You should be in bed, Katniss." Commented Annie, tears still streaming down her cheeks, but her voice was much calmer, gentler. Sounding much more like her.

"Well, I won't let you two kill each other, I'm sure they can hear your yelling in Idaho. What the hell is happening in here?" She asked noticing Annie's expression. "What did you do?" She turned to Johanna accusingly, making her lift her hands innocently.

"I didn't do anything, she put herself in that stat. She fucking wants to leave now, can you believe that?" Explained Johanna, and Katniss looked at the middle sister questioningly.

"What?" She asked in barely above a whisper, not understanding at all Annie's sudden change of heart.

"I have too!" She sobbed pathetically. "I can't stay hear anymore," she added making Katniss even more confused than she was before.

"Just tell us what the hell happened Annie. Did you have a fight with Finnick?" She asked, now convinced that it had to be the case, but at the sound of Finn's name, Annie started to sob even more loudly.

"She fucking thinks it's her fault that you ended all banged up in the hospital." Explained Johanna throwing her arms in the air with exasperation, letting the same know, that she had no idea why her sister would came up with an idea like that.

"You're crazy." Katniss stated simply towards the redheaded woman, looking at her as if she really lost her mind.

"…and now you fucking made me agree with brainless!" Added Jo with a huff making Katniss scowl at her.

"Why on earth would you think that this is your fault, Annie?" Asked Katniss in a slightly calmer manner.

"It was him! I'm sure it was him!" Whined Annie as she sat at the feet on her bed and curled into a ball. "He did that once before. He almost killed my mother then," she added. Katniss sucked on a breath so intensively, that she winced at the short paint that went through her ribs.

"I used your car Katniss! I went to Finnick so many times by it! By your car, Haymitch's, Gale's… Finnick's. I could have killed half of the ranch!" She exploded, still sobbing. "I was the target all the time, he just didn't know which car to sabotage to just teach me manners, to… to hurt me, torture me, make me pay for leaving him…" she sniffled loudly. "I have to leave! " She wined and rocked a bit, digging her fingernails into her skull.

"Oh Annie," sighed Katniss as she sunk down onto the bed, sitting beside her sister. Johanna deflated visibly, her expression changing from one of fury to one of worry as she awkwardly picked up a few of Annie's things and set them on her bed before sitting at Annie's other side. "Even if it was him… your ex, who did that. Even if it was, you don't have to leave." Stated gently Katniss. "It's not about the ranch anymore, about losing it. It's about… us." She added scratching her nose awkwardly. "Maybe we're not a… normal family, but we are a family and we won't let anybody hurt you Annie."

"It's not about me Katniss! I can manage him hurting me, but I can't live with the fact he hurt you! And he can do this to Jo, Gale, Peeta, Haymitch, Sae… Finn… He would do this only because he knows how much it pains me to see you hurt." Sniffled Annie again.

"We will be careful Annie, we won't let him touch any of us ever again." Stated Katniss. "I know you are scared, because he hurt you so many times but…"

"Okay, that's it!" Johanna cut in with a strange determination in her voice. "That's the end of this! That's the fucking end of this!" She said, now looking really pissed off and slightly crazied herself.

"Jo…"

"Don't interrupt me, brainless." She threw a glare Katniss's way. "You know what our fucking problem is? You know what's the biggest problem of Snow's daughters?" She looked her sisters in the eyes to find in them only mild confusion. "I'll tell you, what our bigger problem is," she added with determination. "We let men fuck us up." Her younger sisters looked at her as if she was crazy. "Yes. You've heard me right." She added. "Did I ever told you about my mother's ex boyfriend? No? Oh, he was sooo lovely." She got up and started to pace the room. "I was eleven when she met him. He was charming and handsome and rich. What else to ask for right?" She asked rhetorically. "He had only one damn flaw, though. Just one. He wanted to fuck me more than he wanted to fuck my mother." She added, making Annie gasp and Katniss open her mouth, close it and open again. "It took my mum a fucking month to realize that he was sneaking into my room and putting his dirty hands into my pants every time she had a night shift." She added. Katniss hid her face in her hands and Annie sobbed loudly again. "I'm not telling you all of this, to make you feel bad or some shit. I'm just saying it to prove a point." She added making Katniss look at her with raised eyebrows. "From the moment all three of us were born and our fucker of a father decided that he doesn't care we're his daughters, he put some fucking spell on us. We were screwed by men our whole lives and I don't mean it the good way." She added making Katniss grimace at the completely out of pace half-joke. "I can't have a normal relationship with a men since my dear step dad used me as his sex toy." She confessed, then looked at Annie. "Annie got herself in an abusing relationship and now is scared of her own shadow to the point that even Finnick can't make her feel safe enough that she won't feel like she has to flee the moment her ex appears in sigh." She added and then looked at Katniss. "And finally our miss Montana, who spend her whole life with that fuckard of a father, who never respected her, never rewarded her for her hard work and never even fucking noticed her, making her unable to notice that there are and always were men in her life who would willingly give everything for her if they were asked to." She finished, only now fully realizing that all three of them had more fucked up lives than she ever thought.

"We're pathetic." Stated Katniss as she also realized how much her father's actions affected her life, personality and the way she viewed the world.

"Yes we are," replied Johanna without missing a beat, "and that's exactly why we have to end this. Once and for all." She added with finality.

"But how? How do we do that?" Came Annie's little voice, but it wasn't Johanna who answered her question. It was Katniss.

"By finally starting to live."

***W*L*L***

They started the new chapter of their lives by doing the thing that Katniss always dreamed of doing, but newer had the guts to. They took their father's portrait from the wall above the fireplace and hid it deep in the basement, next to old wine bottles and their grand parents' furniture.

There was something so strangely cathartic in this process, that they all decided that they don't want to stop only at this.

The next was their father's office. The place now belonged to Katniss and while she was much better hunter than her father ever was, she absolutely hated hunting trophies. She was feeling sick every time she looked at the stuffed animal heads on the walls and she felt a strange flutter of sadness every time she saw the glass eyes of the beautiful stuffed lynx. While Katniss was hunting, she killed only things that she could eat or feed people with. She killed wild turkeys and geese, occasionally some squirrels or rabbits, anything that could be used in some productive way. Her father though killed for fun. He killed for trophies, that he could hang on his walls and brag about in front of other ranchers. Katniss herself sometimes thought a bit selfishly that one didn't need a lot of skill to kill a lynx with a Winchester. To shot a squirrel right through the eye with a bow and an arrow was a different story.

The lynx and the other animal heads thumped down the stairs with loud bangs startling Sae away from the kitchen and into the hallway, Haymich hot on her heels, still chewing on some meat.

"What on earth are you doing?" Asked Sae as Jo struggled to push the stag's head down the stairs without damaging it with the horns.

"Oh, we're just evicting a couple of our father's old friends." Replied Katniss with a little smirk, a bit saddened by the fact that she was in no physical condition to throw something down the stairs by herself. Haymich released a deep, loud laugh and winked Katniss' way.

"It's about damn time," he grumbled. "Come on woman, you don't want to get hit by some dead animal." He commented towards Sae and disappeared back into the kitchen pulling her along by her arm.

All three of the girls startled a bit when they heard a yelp as one of the trophies landed right in front of Finnick's feet.

"Ah, ladies? Isn't it a bit too early for Spring cleaning?" He asked with a bright smile making all three of them chuckle at his confused expression.

"Oh it's just the beginning, Mr. 'oh dear'. We're not planning on ending the cleaning soon." Replied Jo with a wink. Finnick chuckled at the modification of his second name and looked towards Annie with raised eyebrows.

"I guess you're not ready for our date night, then?" He asked gently and Annie's eyes winded comically.

"Oh my God. I totally forgot! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed making Johanna laugh at her dismay. "I don't know if I can…"

"Just go, ginger," Johanna cut in unceremoniously.

"Yeah, have loads of fun you two." Added Katniss only a bit suggestively making Johanna chuckle and look at her with a new found respect.

"But I have to change, I look awful and…" Katniss rolled her eyes at Annie's rambling as she threw a smile Finnick's way.

"You look lovely," stated Finnick wearing one of his charming smiles. "You always do."

***W*L*L***

"If you wanted to avoid me, coming to my work place was probably not the best idea." Stated Gale as he fell against the entrance to one of the booths in the stables where Johanna stood and brushed the horses' smooth hair.

"Who said I was avoiding you?" She asked without turning her attention away from the horse and he approached her with a few long strides. He put his huge hand gently over hers successfully stilling her movements. She looked at him with her grey-blue eyes.

"I'm sorry if… I scared you or was just too forward, but…"

"Let's just not talk about it okay?" She cut in half-angrily only to instantly feel bad when she saw the hurt expression crossing his eyes. She sighed loudly and looked at him properly for the first time that evening. She reminded herself of the conversation she had with her sisters earlier that day and of the promise she forced them to make. They all had to start living, it referred also to her. "I'm sorry. I'm being a bitch." She admitted after a moment and he shook his head at that statement.

"No, I get it." He said with resignation. "I remember what you said the first time we hooked up. You've made it pretty clear that it was only about sex for you, but I had to go and make a fool of myself admitting how I feel and hoping that something changed for you too." He added shamefully. "Apparently I was wrong." He rubbed his eyes and chuckled darkly. "Maybe Katniss was right all along." He added making Johanna look at him strangely.

"Katniss… what Katniss has to do with it?" Asked Johanna surprised that he brought their sister into the conversation.

"Well, she did say you're going to break my heart." He stated with a forced smirk and to her credit, Jo did look a bit embarrassed.

"She was probably right," she admitted shamefully. "But I think that if you'd ask her today she might've got a different answer." She added making Gale look at her questioningly. "Gale I…"

"Don't…" He stopped her mid-sentence. "Don't say anything that you would regret."

"Just let me say something, okay?!" She interrupted angrily and he sighed and motioned for her to continue.

"I can't say back to you that I love you, Gale. It wouldn't be fair to either of us if I did that not knowing myself what I really feel." She stated with a shake of her head. "But it doesn't mean that nothing has changed for me." She added and he raised his eyebrows at the revelation. "I… I have some problems with… well feelings and I… I don't want to jump into any kind of a relationship besides the physical one." She explained.

"I won't push you, Jo and I'm sorry that I've even… It was just that… in that moment I really felt it, you know? And I just couldn't stand the thought of not telling you." He added and she shook her head at him.

"You were supposed to let me tell you something, horsemen but you keep interrupting me." She stated with a smirk. "What I've told you a minute ago doesn't really mean anything right now," she added and he looked at her curiously "because if you're willing to give me another chance, I think I could try that relationship shit." She confessed and he smiled a little at the news.

"Really?" He asked unbelievingly and she nodded shortly.

"I can't guarantee though, that I'll be any good at it, but I ju…" She didn't manage to finish the sentence. His slightly chapped lips attached to hers, chasing away all of her thoughts, leaving only those of him and his hot kisses.

Right then she felt like she could really try that relationship shit.

***W*L*L***

"What is that?" Asked curiously Cato, when he noticed the animal heads, horns and limbs piled in the front yard of Snow's Mansion. "Are those all of your father's hunting trophies?" He added with wonder as he circled the pile with interest.

"Yeah. All of his old shit." Answered Katniss trying and failing to understand the fascination in his tone.

"Holy shit!" Exclaimed Rory with excitement. "Do you want to throw it all out?" He asked unbelievingly. Chaff let out a loud snort at the young cowboy's question.

"She would have to be completely bonkers to throw away such treasures, boy." He answered with a grumble, making young Rory blush a bit.

"Thank you Chaff and yes, Rory. That is exactly what I wanted to do with that garbage," she replied politely, but she didn't forget to throw Chaff's way one of her scowls in response to his outraged huff.

"Can I take something Katniss?" Asked Marvel a little bit hesitantly. "It would be a shame to throw all of this out," he added for a good measure.

"Can I take something too?" Asked Rory hopefully bouncing on his heels like the excited boy he still was.

"I call dibs on the lynx!" Yelled enthusiastically Cato making Katniss roll her eyes at their stupidity.

"Damn you Cato." Whined Marvel, Cato's low chuckle accompanying his complains.

"Take whatever you want." Stated Katniss indifferently, shrugging her shoulders in the process, trying to make a point of how little did she care about all of those things .

"What's happening in here?" She heard Peeta's voice before she was able to see him from behind all the men that crowded near the rapidly decreasing pile. He appeared at Marvel's side after a short moment and eyed the dead animals with mild interest, only to lift his head and look straight at Katniss with wide eyes and a startled expression.

"Lions and tiger and bears, oh my!" He exclaimed loudly making everyone chuckle a bit. Katniss snorted at his silliness and smiled widely at his cheerful expression. She had a good day and it was only getting better and better.

Peeta approached her with a proud smile and she instantly knew that he was happy she decided to finally make that house her home.

"I see you've been making some changes." He commented and then eyed her with concern. "Aren't you forcing yourself too much?" He asked making her roll her eyes.

"I'm fine and it was mostly Jo and Annie who were doing all of the physical work." She added and Peeta nodded his approval.

"Your brother inside?" He asked changing the topic and making Katniss nod in answer.

"He went in with Johanna a couple of minutes ago." She replied making him smile.

"I need to have a quick word with him." He stated and squeezed her hand as he hurriedly passed her in the doorway.

She stayed outside a bit longer, trying to make sure her men didn't kill each other over some creepy dead animals, but she couldn't stand they bickering for long. She left pretty soon, leaving Cato and Marvel still fighting over a wild pig.

She startled when the first thing she saw after she entered the kitchen was Peeta Mellark's butt sticking out as he bend over to snoop around in her fridge. He emerged after a moment, a beer in his hand and one of Johanna's carrot sticks hanging limply from his mouth.

"Can I help you, Dorothy?" She asked with a smirk and he answered with one of his own, stretched around the half-consumed carrot.

"Nah, I'm good. Took one of your beers. I hope you don't mind." He stated and she huffed a bit at his cockiness.

"This is not a saloon, asshole." She replied but opened one of her drawers and gave him a bottle opener anyway. He smirked.

"Gale wasn't here so I had to find myself something to do when I waited for you." He answered getting dangerously close to her. She held her breath. "I couldn't just miss the pleasure of your company." He added looking from her eyes to her lips and back again. "Haven't kissed you properly yet, " he stated in a whisper. "What if I did it now?" He asked challengingly brushing his nose against hers.

"Well, do it then." She breathed against his lips, but when they were just about to press into hers, he yelped loudly as he felt the cold beer pouting into his hair and dripping down behind the collar of his shirt. Katniss laughed maniacally at his disgusted expression.

"Thanks for that." He grumbled. "I have beer in my ears and I smell like a hobo." He added, wiping at his ear with his sleeve. She chuckled but grabbed two fistfuls of his flannel shirt and brought his lips to hers for a quick peck. Like the first time, he immediately wanted to come back for more.

"Hold your horses, baby eyes." She said teasingly as she pushed at his chest lightly. He pouted making it impossible for her to hide her smile. "It will be no more kisses for now." She added and he raised his eyebrows what made him look even more ridiculous than he did before.

"Why?" He whined and she laughed out loud, burrowed her hand in his now slightly sticky hair and tugged on it gently.

"Well… you still owe me a date."

TBC...


	11. The Fire and The Ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> |AN|: Hi everyone. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  
> I know I haven't updated in a veeery long time, but I've had a bit crazy time in my life and there were a lot of things in the way. Anyways, I finally updated and I hope beyond everything that you'll like this chapter because it took me quite a while to write it.
> 
> From this place, I want to thank all of those who stood by me all this time and encouraged me to keep going. It means the world to me.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and I hope you will let me know what you think about it.
> 
> Happy Reading.

It was just like in a fairytale, the way Montana looked at Winter. Annie was quite sure she haven't seen anything remotely as beautiful as the mountains, meadows and rooftops covered in thick, immaculately white snow. As much as outside world was so cold, that Annie was almost sure she had frozen off all of her limbs every time she left the warmth of the house, the atmosphere on the ranch kept getting warmer and warmer. For the middle sister's immense joy, even Jo and Katniss fought less and less those days, during which Sae was cooking all kinds of delicious and nutritious food, that kept the cowboy's and girls full of energy and made Annie gain some weight that for some reason made Finnick look at her in a new way.

She could also feel the love in the air. Oh yeah, there was much more love happening around now than Snow Rock's ranch had ever seen in its history. Of course, there were she and Finnick, who only half jokingly were already considered married by nearly everybody in the town and, as for Jo and Gale, everybody could see how hard they tried to not look like teenagers in love, failing miserably as they were repeatedly caught by random people, making out in various places.

The most amazing thing that happened though, the one that got Annie Cresta beyond excited, was the newly discovered and well kept secret of Kaniss and Peeta's blossoming affection.

Nearly everybody in town knew how Peeta Mellark felt about Katniss Everdeen, but no one besides the two and Annie, who found out completely accidentally, knew that somewhere along the way Katniss Everdeen not only started to return the affection but also, or maybe more importantly, finally realized that the boy loved her since forever.

One day, when Annie was looking for Katniss to talk to her about something that was forgotten as soon as Annie opened the door to Katniss' office, she saw the two ranchers pressed closely together. They weren't making out, no, but they were obviously lost into each other's gazes and some quite conversation that seemed extremely intimate. The thing that got Annie the most in that moment though, wasn't the situation itself. It was the little, but honest and blissful smile gracing Katniss' lips.

Yes, the atmosphere on Snow Rock's kept getting warmer and warmer, and there was nothing on this world that could make Annie happier.

* * *

"I've always wanted to have sex in front of a fireplace." Murmured Johanna into Gale's ear as she passed him in the living room. He was standing in front of the fireplace, lost in deep thought, slowly sipping whisky from a low glass filled with perfectly shaped ice-cubes. He startled a bit at her presence and even managed a weak smile, but she knew him better than that. The truth was, he was worried. A couple of days before, Chaff and Cato had found some dead pigs in the pigpen, killed the same way the cows and the old cat and Gale knew how much it affected everyone on the ranch. Especially his little sister. As much as she tried to stay calm, Gale knew Katniss better than she knew herself and he was positive, she was terrified. She would never admit it or show it in any way, but it didn't change the fact that he knew the truth, and it scared him more than anything. Now, there was also the fact that Katniss wasn't the only woman on the Snow Rock's ranch anymore. She wasn't the only person he cared about enough to want to protect at any time. There were her sisters, one of which, he lately had in his bed most of the nights.

Johanna didn't push Gale into talking or admitting his worries. As much as they were different, Katniss and Gale were also the same in many ways. One of the similarities, was the reluctance to admit their troubles and worries, what in Jo's opinion made Gale sexy and Katniss unbearable.

Instead of worrying about her lover and her sister, Johanna pushed away all of those dark thoughts and though about the upcoming Holidays, her mother and the fact that it will be her first Christmas spend without her. It made the young woman strangely nostalgic, because when she thought of Christmas, she saw the ridiculous plastic tree with tons of ornaments that her mom insisted on putting on, she saw people wearing short sleeves and ridiculous Santa hats in the very not Christmassy Californian weather. She saw the old Frank Sinatra vinyl, that her Mother always played on Christmas morning from which, if she could sing, Jo would be able to sing every single song. This year she wouldn't have any of those things and she couldn't help that it made her kind of sad.

She ran into Katniss in the kitchen and wrinkled her nose in disgust at the sight of her. Her younger sister was all sweaty and covered in all kinds of nasty things, that Jo didn't want to know the origin of.

"Did Gale finished talking with sheriff Cray already?" She asked loading water bottles into a big cotton bag. Johanna nodded her head a couple of times.

"He's all dark, handsome and brooding in the living room right now." She stated, making Katniss rise her eyebrows at her older sister. "I wanted to talk to him but… I don't really know what to say to ease his mind a bit." She added. Katniss sighed loudly.

"The thing with Gale is that… you don't really have to say anything to him. You just have to be near him. I know he worries, probably more than he should and there's nothing that anybody can say to make him feel better. I know him pretty well, Jo and I know that he just feels the thing he, both of us, hate to feel more than anything. Helplessness. He won't stop worrying until he finds the bastard who's doing all of this, but it doesn't mean there's no way of taking his mind off of things. With me it was always cracking a lame joke or just simply hugging him, but since my mood is not too good right now and I'm all covered in animal birth fluids I don't think any of those is an option. Besides… I think he prefers you those days anyway." Explained Katniss already heading towards the door.

"Ok, I guess I will just… wait a sec, did you just say 'animal birth fluids'?" Asked Jo with horror.

"It's the cows birth season Jo and someone has to help the mama's get their babies out." Replied Katniss with a shrug, right before leaving the house.

She never had the chance to notice her eldest sister gagging behind her back.

* * *

"You're just jealous old man, 'cause you haven't fucking won at poker in half a century." Panted Cato as he stuck a syringe into new born calf's ass.

"I haven't won, my ass." Grumbled Chaff, who was getting redder and redder with anger, caused by the pointless argument with the younger rancher. The men were butting their heads since the very beginning of their work day, and Katniss started to be seriously fed up with them. She saw it was also annoying for the other men, some of them currently having their arms deep inside cows in labor, trying to get the babies out. She assigned Chaff for the injections and care for the little calves, because of his physical limitations and Cato was doing two jobs at a time, because apparently Marvel got so sick last night, he was unable to get out of bed without falling on his face. The cowboys were a pain in the ass today, especially Chaff, who seemed to start a different argument every five seconds. Katniss started to get seriously tired of it.

"Hey Cato, you said your truck was driving funny lately, maybe you should get it checked by Beetee later." Said Katniss, just to change the topic. Cato nodded a couple of times as he passed a freshly born calf into Chaff's waiting arms.

"Yeah, I probably should, it's nothing too serious, just the third gear is acting a little funny and it's pissing me off. Nothing that Beetee can't handle with his eyes closed," he added with a wink. Katniss smiled at him and he replied with one of those charming smiles plastered on his face.

"I could look at the car for you, boy if you weren't such a pain in the ass." Said Chaff with confidence causing Rory to roll his eyes and mumble "oh my God, here we go again," under his breath. Katniss sighed loudly sensing another argument in the air.

"Last time I let you check my jeep, you broke it even more and Beetee had to order some new parts." Stated Haymitch, causing everybody to chuckle.

"That ol' thing… it wasn't worth shit, it was already falling apart when you gave it to me to check it." Answered Chaff. "It's not my fault that you can't handle a car properly, so it doesn't fuckin' break." he added making Haymitch open his mouth to respond, but Katniss already had enough of this shit.

"Why don't you shut up Chaff, everybody is already tired of your attitude today." She said toward one of the eldest of her father's men. Chaff huffed and his face started to look like a ripe tomato.

"Who do you think you are, girl? You think you can talk to me like that? Your father was the one who hired me and…"

"And I will be the one who fires you if you don't calm down right now." She replied causing Chaff to stand up and start towards Katniss.

"Woah, woah, woah, what the hell Chaff?" Asked Haymitch as he immediately appeared at Katniss' side." Just relax before you do something that you're gonna regret," he added. Katniss' nostrils started to flare dangerously.

"What's happening in here?" Asked Gale as he appeared in the entrance, a basket of sandwiches in his hands. Katniss looked at him and sighed loudly trying to calm herself in the process.

"Nothing," she answered, her voice cold like Montana's winter evenings. "Chaff was just leaving to check the fences," she added, "everybody back to work."

"The hell I will." Rebutted Chaff, but this time it was Haymitch who stopped him with a cold stare.

"Do what she said Chaff, before she decides to fire your sorry ass for real." He advised. Chaff grumbled, took off his gloves and forcefully threw them onto the ground startling one of the calves. He kept grumbling all the way to the door and Katniss was sure he'd found a lot of not so pleasant names to call her. Gale looked at his younger sister and raised his eyebrows in a question, but the only answer he got was a shrug and an eye-roll. He shrugged back.

"So, who wants a sandwich?"

* * *

Oh, she was pissed off at Chaff, she was so pissed off she wanted to fire the old goat only to teach him a lesson, but she couldn't. She wasn't stupid and she knew that Chaff was one of the most experienced cowboys that worked for her. He was a pain in the ass most of the time, but also most of the time he was doing his job, and he was doing it well. Besides, with winter being in a full bloom and everything that was happening on the ranch, she couldn't afford to lose men. As much as her pride was telling her not to do that, she knew she had to apologize to Chaff. She also knew that if she didn't do that, the first thing she's going to see on her desk in the morning will be his resignation. She ripped off part of her sandwich and threw it to Fidget, who was running around like crazy and hiding under the hay stocks. She used her half an hour break to change her clothes, clean herself a bit and play with the dog. At this rate, they were going to have a few more hours of work left, but she felt like she had to sort this thing with Chaff immediately, before he starts to get any ideas. She knew she kind of humiliated him in front of the other men, but the truth was that she was aiming for that. She started to think she'd overused her power. She sighed and peeked into the barn.

"Hey boys, I'm gonna head down the fence and try to find Chaff. I think we have to have a little chat." She said towards the rest of the cowboys.

"Want me to go with you?" Asked Gale and she shook her head at the question. "No, I want to talk with him alone, and you're more needed here anyway." She answered making Gale nod.

"Don't let that old fuckard get on your nerves Katniss." Commented Cato and Katniss waved him off with a hand gesture and started to close the door again.

"Be careful out there," yelled Gale after her, but the only answer he got was Fidget's happy bark.

She was thinking about the conversation she needed to have with Chaff when she started the engine after putting Fidget on the passenger seat right next to her half-eaten meal. She wasn't really looking forward to this and she sighed loudly at the mare thought of apologizing to him.

It was a bit after three, but the sky was already starting to get dark. It was the beginning of December though, so it wasn't anything abnormal. Katniss looked at the red and orange clouds, that were now hanging low above the mountains and for some reason thought of Peeta. She only realized a few seconds later, that this warm, sunset orange was his favorite color.

_She was fourteen and she had a bad day at school, because one of her worst school enemies, a girl named Glimmer, called her a "dirty cow shit cleaner" and told her she would never invite her for a party. She invited the whole school besides her. She was sad all day, even if she tried to never let anybody see those things affected her, but her brother knew her to well to not notice. He refused to go to the party in solidarity with his sister. She was sitting on the little pier on the lake that evening, being all grumpy and sad, when suddenly Peeta joined her out of the blue. She was surprised he didn't go to the party, but he only smiled when she voiced her bewilderment._

" _Well, there was nobody there that I liked anyway." He explained making Katniss shake her head at this statement._

" _You like everybody, Peeta." She answered making him chuckle and shake his head in denial._

" _I try to be nice to everybody, but it doesn't mean I like them all. Glimmer for example, I'm not very fond of." He said and Katniss thought of the irony of it since Glimmer was one of the girls that could have basically every boy they wanted, but she wanted only Peeta. Katniss felt strange satisfaction that he wasn't interested. "I truly like only my friends and none of them is going to go," he continued. "Finnick is sick and I don't think his grandma would let him go anyway, Gale refused to go because he hates Glimmer probably more than anyone and you… you won't be there either." He replied, making Katniss look at him with surprise._

" _I'm your friend?" She asked with wonder and he saddened a bit at the question._

" _Are you not?" He asked and she immediately felt bad for making him look like a beaten puppy._

" _I don't know. I always thought you and Finnick liked me only because Gale told you to like me." She answered making Peeta laugh wholeheartedly._

" _Kitty," he addressed her still laughing, "Fin and I both liked you since the moment you were born." He admitted with a charming smile. "Fin treats you like you're his sister." He added and she looked up straight into his baby blue eyes._

" _What about you?" She asked making him smile._

" _I already have siblings and they annoy me more than any of my friends ever would, so I think I prefer if you stayed my friend." He replied and she giggled, something that very rarely happened to Katniss. "So… am I your friend?"_

" _You are." She admitted with a smile and he tugged on her braid teasingly. They stayed silent for a couple of moments._

" _So now when we are friends, we should tell each other the deep stuff." He said, pretending to be deadly serious. Her eyes went wide._

" _The deep stuff?" She asked. "I'm not good with sharing the deep stuff."_

" _Well that's a pity, because you know… I wanted to ask you what's your favorite color." He answered teasingly, she grinned._

" _Now you stepped over the line." She rebutted, now being the one who pretended to be serious. He chuckled and she shoved him on the shoulder. "It's green." She added in passing and he nodded as if he already knew and only asked to tease her._

" _Mine is orange." He admitted and she wrinkled her nose at the news._

" _Like miss Effie's hair?" He shook his head with a chuckle._

" _No," he denied with a laugh, "more warm, gentle and toned." He said, looked at the sun setting on the lake and pointed to it with a smile. "More like this."_

She was so lost in her memories, that she never heard the horse galloping behind her jeep and only when Peeta's boot appeared in her side window, did she realize he caught up and now was riding alongside her jeep. She slowed the car, eventually getting to a stop, making Peeta jump off his horse and knock lightly on her window. She saw his smiling face before she even completely rolled it down.

"Hello pretty lady. What brings you here all alone?" He asked casually, but she knew he didn't like it when she was driving alone when it was already getting dark.

"Well sir, I'm with my loyal companion here," she replied pointing at Fidget, who true to his name started fidgeting on the passenger seat. He jumped on Katniss' lap when he saw Peeta and licked with favor his hand that rested on the opened window. "Besides… you're the one who's trespassing Mellark, it's Snow Rock's territory." She added and he chuckled reaching for Fidget to pat his head.

"'Sup pal?" He asked the dog as he scratched behind his ears. He chuckled at Fidget's trustfulness. "He's a real guardian that one, aren't you buddy?" he said looking at Katniss with raised eyebrows, never stopping to pet the little creature, "you would lick any bad guy to death, won't you," he added towards the dog. Katniss shook her head. "Hey," he stopped suddenly, looking at the passenger seat with interest," is that a sandwich I'm seeing?" He asked making Katniss feign a dramatic sigh. She reached for the second part of her meal and gave it to him with resignation. "God bless you, woman. You're a real angel." He commented and she rolled her eyes at that remark.

"Thank Sae, she made the sandwich," she replied but he shrugged. "I can thank her all right, but I would rather do that," he said stealing a quick kiss to her mouth, "to you." He finished with a wink. "So…" he started twirling around his finger a strand of hair that fell out of her braid, "when are you going to let me take you on that date?" He asked and she smiled a bit at that question.

"Friday night," she stated casually, causing him to rise his eyebrows, "just name the place." She added and he gave her one of his most charming smiles. "Have a good night, Mellark." She added and started the car before he even managed to protest.

She smiled to herself and then wandered, how come a simple conversation with Peeta, made her mood suddenly so much better. She laughed out loud at herself, thinking of how pathetic she started to act, but then slowed the car down, when she saw Chaff's jeep close by. She took a deep breath preparing herself for the unpleasant conversation as she wished she could be anywhere else, but here. She stopped her car, sighed loudly and shook her head when he didn't appear immediately. She was sure he was so pissed off he was going to make her beg for his forgiveness. She would never do that, even if it meant him handing her his resignation.

"Chaff, I came to talk to you, stop acting like a sulky teenage girl." She winced at her choice of words, if she wanted to get on his good side, insulting him, wasn't probably the best idea. She walked around the car and opened her mouth to call him again only to come to a sudden stop and make a barely audible whimpering sound at the sight in front of her. In a puddle of blood, there lay Chaff, or at least what was left of him. He was gutted and scalped and she took a step back, swayed on her feet, when she felt a little dizzy and threw up right next to the fence. She put her fingers through the fence holes as she held on it tightly, trying to get her stability back and she let out a one, pathetic sob, when she tried to breath.

"My God… oh my God…" She whimpered, not having enough of strength to look at Chaff again. She lived on a ranch, so she'd seen death and all kinds of disgusting things, but what she saw in front of her, was beyond anything she could ever imagine. She stumbled away from the fence, away from the body and noticed that Fidget started to whine miserably, still in the car, but now jumping around and acting like crazy. She made her way around the car, her legs feeling like jelly and she reached thought the driver's window trying to take the radio and call in for help, but she couldn't make a sound. She wasn't thinking much, she just put her hand on the horn and leant on it with her whole body weight.

* * *

His horse startled greatly at the sudden sound of the car horn and Peeta looked around with confusion, a strange panic overtaking him at the sound. He dug his heels into the horse's sides and gave him a command for a gallop as he made his way after the only car he saw that evening. Katniss' car.

His heart was beating furiously as he made his chestnut horse- Castor run faster than ever and he trembled slightly as the sound of the horn kept getting closer and closer only to come to a sudden stop.

He yelled her name in panic, but didn't meet any response and only when he finally saw her jeep in the distance, her leaning on the car while Fidget wiled miserably still trapped in the vehicle did he slow down a bit. Castor was still running when Peeta jumped off of him a few feet away from Katniss and reached her in two strides.

"Katniss!" He yelled her name and she jerked her head at the sound of his voice only to lose her balance at the sudden movement and slide down the car's body. Peeta was fast enough to jump forward and catch her before she hit the ground. "Kat!" He exclaimed as he held her in his arms. She wailed his name when she regained her footing and burrowed her head in his chest, something so uncharacteristic for her, that she caught him completely by surprise. He didn't need long to recover and wrap his arms completely around her. "Kitty," he said, now more calmly and gently. "Hey, look at me," he added. He slid his hands along her arms and to her neck, framing her face. "What happened, are you hurt?" He asked worriedly, frantically looking for any sign of an injury. He panicked as the only sound she could let out was another pathetic wail, but she shook her head in denial. He brought her towards his chest, shaken by her tears and overall state. She was trembling in his arms as he tried to shush her with gentle hands and noises. "Kitty, what happened? You are scaring me baby, talk to me." He said so gently that she barely heard him over Fidget's impatient wails.

"Oh my God, Peeta… oh my God…" was all she was able to say and he looked at her face again and rubbed her hair.

"It's okay, everything is fine," he tried to shush but she started to frantically shake her head.

"Nnno… no, look. There… bbbehind the car…" She stuttered, still shivering like a leaf in his arms.

"Ok," he stated, gently letting go of her. He leaned her against the car. "Ok, I'm gonna go look, just stay here… Quite Fidget!" He added towards the dog to calm his wails as he made his way around the car only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight in front of him. "Sweet Mother of God!" He exclaimed at the sight of the deformed body and he shivered violently as he realized that if it weren't for the lack of one hand, he wouldn't even be able to recognize the body of the man laying in front of him.

Katniss sobbed loudly at his exclamation and he backed away taking a few deep breaths to compose himself before returning to her. She clung back to him as soon as he was in her reach.

"Why?" She wailed into his chest and he wanted to sob himself at the sound of her voice. "Why? Who would do that to him, Peeta? Why?" She repeated as he held her tightly.

"I don't know… I have no idea, sweetie." He said and caught her as she again started to go limp in his arms. He opened the door to the car and seated her down on the driver's seat. Fidget started to jump around as soon as Katniss reappeared in his sight and Peeta need to give him three more commands to finally calm him down. Katniss jumped slightly and looked at Peeta with panicked eyes, suddenly out of the haze she was previously in. She made a move the stand up, but she was stopped by his strong hands placed on her shoulders.

"I need to… I have to ggo… cover… I need to cover him. He can't be like this, he…"

"You don't have to do anything except of sitting here now, Kitty," cut in Peeta, still trying to make her sit calmly.

"No… no he needs to be covered, he can't be like this…" She repeated making the young rancher crouch in front of her. He took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead, her eyes and finally laid a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I will do that. I promise. Just sit here with Fidget, okay?" He said quietly. She looked at him with those sad, teary eyes and nodded, making his heart clench. He kissed her forehead again and reached for the blanket that covered the back seat of her jeep. It would have to do for now.

* * *

Annie laughed loudly as Maggs, Fin's grandmother, kept showing her pictures of him as a little boy.  
She liked every single one of them, but she got incredibly fond of one, that showed Finnick in his swim trunks, standing at the little pier by the lake and looking all cute like a cherub. She fell in love with that photo as soon as she saw it, just like she fell in love with Finnick the first time she laid her eyes on him.  
Finnick rolled his eyes as Maggs passed to Annie one of his baby bath photos, with him in nothing but his birthday suit and Annie awed and chuckled at his discomfort. With a corner of her eye, she saw a picture that she pulled carefully from the pile and she smiled warmly as she saw the kids captured on the photo. Finnick returned her smile with a chuckle.

"Oh my, that's a real treat." He commented taking the photo form Annie's hand and shaking his head. Annie couldn't quite place where the photo was taken, but she took it back from Finnick and looked at it carefully. The three boys: Fin, Peeta and Gale, all with pure, sweet interest and amazement written all over their little faces, were bend over a crib with a beautiful little sleeping baby inside. It wasn't hard to guess that the baby was Katniss herself. Annie felt nostalgic at the sight of the photo and she hugged it tightly to her chest.

"Can I keep it?" She asked hesitantly. "I would return it soon, but I wanted to make copies and give one to Katniss, Peeta and Gale… I want to keep one as well and maybe Jo would too." She explained and Maggs smiled widely and nodded. Annie jumped slightly at the sound of Fin's radio coming to live and he paced his palm on her knee to calm her down.

"Fin, where are you?" He heard Peeta's voice coming from the speaker and he startled a bit at the sound of it. They knew each other since forever and he could read the panic from Peeta's voice as easily as an open book.

"Peeta? What's up? I'm at home with Gran and Annie," he replied, suddenly nervous himself. He heard an exhale and Peeta's voice calmed a bit.

"Take them to Snow's Mansion, please. We need you."

"Everything fine?" He asked, but as soon as the question left his lips, he knew it was a dumb one. Obviously something was really wrong. He looked at Annie and his Grandmother and could easily see that they too, looked worried. He squeezed Annie's knee under the table.

"No," he answered shortly and only after a couple of seconds of silence added, "but I'm with Katniss, we are fine and I contacted Gale and they are at home with Jo. Please join them." Finnick nodded, but only then realized that Peeta couldn't see him.

"We will be there in 20 minutes." He replied and opened his mouth, not really sure what to say next.

"It will take us a while, but we will join you." Replied Peeta, his voice sad and tired. "Fin?"

"Yeah?"

"I called my dad a few minutes ago and he's fine, as is Prim, Delly and Tony, but for some reason I can't reach Rye. Can you please try calling him until he picks up and confirms he's fine?" He asked and Finnick shivered at the question, sensing that the situation was really bad if Peeta was so afraid for everybody.

"Of course bro, but… what the hell happened?"

"Not now Fin, just please make sure you three are safely at the Manor. We've got a killer on the loose."

* * *

Peeta sat heavily on the leather couch in the living room of Snow's Manor and looked somberly at his companions before burrowing his face in his open palms. He felt a gentle but firm squeeze on his left shoulder and looked up to find Sae with concern written all over her face. He gave her a weak, but grateful smile.

"How is she?" She asked and Peeta sighed loudly and shook his head in response.

"Not so good Sae," he answered, his voice cracking a bit. "They made her go over it again and again, what seemed like a hundred times. She was so exhausted that in the end, she almost fell face down, even if she refused to go to sleep. I kind of had to force her." He answered and Sae shook her head at this sadly, but smirked and patted his cheek lightly.

"You are a good man, Peeta." She said and he nodded with thanks, squeezing her hand as she made her way towards the kitchen with a heavy sigh. Convincing Katniss to do what she didn't want to was always a hard work, but this time Peeta found out that it was surprisingly easy as she was so tired, the only thing he had to do was steer her towards her bedroom and gently shush her defiance. He stroked her head when it hit the pillow and kissed her forehead gently before getting up to leave, but her tired voice and a hand reaching for his in the darkness made him freeze in place.

"Stay with me." She whispered and his heart broke into million pieces seeing what the situation reduced her to. She feared getting to sleep and there was a very little things that Katniss Everdeen ever feared.

"Always." He whispered in response, but was almost sure she didn't hear him, already drifting off after the horrible day.

"Hey man, you okay?" Gales voice pulled him from his thoughts. He shook his head to clear it.

"Yeah, yeah. Just thinking." He replied and looked across the room at his older brother that stood next to the fireplace in deep thought. "You're sure everyone at home is okay, right Rye?" He spoke making the older Mellark turn his way.

"Yeah," he repeated for the fourth time that evening. "Worried, but fine." He added assuring Peeta once again.

"How's the other two?" Asked Haymitch referring to Katniss' sisters. He looked about five years older and ten times more tired than he usually did.

"Annie was hard to calm down, she believes it's her ex's doing and she feels responsible. It took a while to convince her otherwise, but she's asleep now." Answered Finnick and Haymitch nodded turning his head towards Gale. He startled a bit at the attention as all of the faces were now turned towards him.

"Jo's gonna be fine. She took three ambiens and was out like the light." He answered and dropped on the couch right next to Peeta. "What did the police say." He asked his best friend, but Peeta only shrugged in answer.

"Nothing to be honest. It was more us talking then them." He said obviously displeased with their methods. "I don't know guys, but I don't think I can do what they ask from us and lay the lives of our families and loved ones completely in their hands." He stated and met with Haymitch's nod of approval when he raised his head.

"The hell if the boy doesn't have a point." Commented to older cowboy. "I don't trust them Police nor our lovely sheriff," he stated with finality.

"I can approve that due to my job, but I'll pretend I've never heard this conversation." Stated Finn making Haymitch grin like a fool.

"Atta boy." He muttered under his breath.

"What do you propose, Peeta?" Asked Gale with his low, gruff voice and Peeta looked up with surprise.

"Me?" He asked with bewilderment, but Gale only shrugged, as if his question was perfectly reasonable. Peeta sighed.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "But I also don't know how much more of this Katniss is able to take." He added making Gale look at him sadly. "It hits us all, everything that's happening, but she's the one who's always the closes to it all. The dead animals, the accident." He said with a shake of his head. "She almost fucking died when she hit the tree that night!" He almost yelled. "And now this…"

"You didn't see her today, when she found Chaff… you didn't see what she saw, what we saw." He said with a shake of his head as if he tired to clear his mind of the terrible image. "It was the first time in my life that I've seen her so shaken she couldn't stand on her feet, the first time I've seen her sobbing like a baby and the first time I've seen her clinging to anybody for dear life out of pure fear." He explained and looked at Gale who listened to it all with utter horror written on his olive face.

"It's a good thing you've been there, boy." Said Haymitch with an uncharacteristic for him gentleness. "That girl thinks of you more than any of us and it's good you were the one who found her." He added, his statement surprising Peeta and making him speechless. He hoped Katniss had started to develop some feelings for him, but he would never expect words like that leaving Haymitch's mouth.

"The worst part is that she takes responsibility for it all and we all know it's bullshit. But it's eating her up… I can't stand watching her so pale and worried most of the damn time." Stated Gale with anger. "I can't get it into her stupid head that it's not her fault." He added with a sigh.

"We can't let any of them wander around alone anymore." Stated Finn, meaning all of the girls but Gale shook his head at this.

"Katniss would never allow this," stated Gale with resignation, but Peeta cut in angrily.

"The hell she will!" He growled, his fists clenching on his lap. "She will go with one of us at all time, even if I have to pull the supervisor thing to force her." He added with fire. "I don't think I can take seeing her again as I saw her today." He added, his voice breaking. "Leave her to me," he said looking around the room. "I will convince her." He stated, but looked towards his brother with a frown.

"Don't worry about the Three Meadows or about any of us," Rye replied his brother's unasked question. "The ranch can manage without its head for a while and I'll keep our family safe." He said looking straight into Peeta's eyes. "I promise."

"Well," Started Haymitch, startling the Mellark boys from their conversation. "I don't know how you intend to get into that girl's thick head, boy but by all means, God bless you on your mission."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> |AN2|: Loved it? Hated it?  
> Let me know.


	12. The Almost Christmas Time

Katniss almost jumped at the sudden knock on her office door and run her hand down her braid only to scold herself for that a second later. She was jumpy and on an edge the whole day, nervous about her upcoming first date with Peeta Mellark. She scowled at her poor attempts to groom her hair. What on earth that matter, how she looked now? She was at work and Peeta shouldn't care if her hair is messy or not. She shook her head at her own silliness and called to come in.

She tried very hard not to look disappointed, when she realized it was not Peeta, but Haymitch who walked into her office. She hated herself for the brief, but evident disappointment.

"Well, don't be so happy to see me, sweetheart! Who were you expecting, Justin Timberlake?" He asked with a tease and she snorted remembering Haymitch's fits of laughter when he found out that the blonde singer was Katniss' early teenage crush.

"I wasn't expecting anybody." She answered but Haymitch only shook his head and smirked in her direction.

"I'm sure boy will visit you soon enough." He added with mischief making Katniss raise her eyebrows.

"I have no idea who you're talking about." She said, but even if Haymitch didn't know better than that, her bright pink blush would definitely give her away.

"Of course you don't," he grumbled with a chuckle.

"Are you here for your check or you're just bored and came here to get on my nerves?"  
She asked with a bit of fake annoyance. Haymitch chuckled again and took off his hat, right before sitting in the chair in front of her.

"Well, I've came here, because I've wanted to talk to you about something, but I don't mind the check at all," he started with a smile. "As for the teasing, I don't know… maybe I should start doing it more often since the only other person, who is brave enough to do that seems to be doing a lot more kissing than teasing lately," he answered with a smirk, rising his eyebrows suggestively. He wasn't sure if there were a way for her to get more red than she got in that moment.

"Once again I don't know…"

"Save it girl, he looks as if someone painted that smile on his perfect face. He is always all smiley that one, but it's been unbearable lately." He added and she snorted. "Whatever you are doing, it's good for the two of you and really annoying for the rest of us. Heard they call it love." Katniss rolled her eyes and opened her drawer to reach for an envelope.

"Whatever," she replied placing it in front of him. "Say what you want, as long as you don't call me 'girl' anymore. A deal is a deal and you know how much I hate it." She added and busied herself with getting some papers into a neat pile. He mentally kicked himself.

"You know, I can hardly call you 'boy' anymore, since you stopped looking like one a while ago." She narrowed her eyes at him and kicked him lightly under the desk, but she knew he understood. His eyes were saying everything. It was funny that they were very similar like that. She, as well as he, could never hide what her eyes were saying. It was a course, because if someone knew her well enough, they could read her very easily, but it was also a blessing, because there were times when she wanted to communicate something and it was the only way she could do that, since she was never very good with words. Right now, though, she could see in Haymitch's eyes that he was sorry for the slip and she, once again in her life, felt incredible fondness for that man.

Katniss was no older than eleven when she fell off of her horse and broke her arm. She was going fast and tried to jump some logs in the woods, like they do in the movies, but her young horse- Shadow, never really tried that trick before. She startled him greatly when she wanted him to jump and she fell off of him, breaking her arm when she hit the ground. She managed to get back to the house on her own and Haymitch and Sae took her to the hospital. She could see he was pissed at her for disobeying him, since he told her countless of times that she shouldn't do that, but he never yelled at her until she had her hand in the cast. The broken arm was really hurting her since she fell, but she tried hard not to let the tears that pooled in her eyes fall. She managed not to shed any of them until they were out of the hospital and Haymitch yelled at her for being stupid and not listening to him when he warned her it would end just like it did.

"I should give you a spanking for that, you really disappointed me, girl." He said with disappointmen, causing the dam to finally break as Katniss started to sob loudly into Sae's apron, the one that she forgot to take off in her hurry to get Katniss to the hospital. Convinced that Katniss' cries were an effect of Haymitch's threat, Sae yelled at him for fifteen minutes only to suddenly stop when she found out the actual reason of the girl's distress.

"You cc-called me a girl." She sniffled, stunning them both into silence, which after just a moment, was suddenly broken by Haymitch, who let out a bitter chuckle.

"Well, you do look and act a bit like one, but I refuse to call you boy." Replied Haymitch, only to meet with Sae's disapproving head shake and Katniss's angry scowl.

"You are a girl Katniss, what's wrong with that?" Asked gently Sae, but instead of answering her, Katniss turned her tear stained, pouty face towards Haymitch.

"He always calls me that, my father. It's like I don't even have a name, but I have one," she stated angrily. "It's Katniss, my Mama gave it to me." She said with a kind of finality, unusual for an eleven-years-old girl. "I don't want you to become like him Haymitch. I will always listen to you, I promise, just please don't become like him." She said with those big, grey eyes of hers that looked like two moons shining in the dark night and he never ever felt so awful in his life.

It was one of the rare moments in her life when he broke his impassive expression and hugged her. As he held her, he promised he will never call her "girl" again and sealed that with the biggest ice cream she had seen in her life. 

She was much worse at keeping her promises than him. She didn't always listen to him therefore braking the one made by a teary eleven-year-old, but until now, he never broke his. She was always Katniss or sweetheart for him since that day. Never Kat, never Kitty like Gale and the boys like to call her sometimes, she was Katniss or sweetheart, only those two.

She smiled at the memory and he raised his eyebrows at her sudden silence.

"What did you want to talk about old man?" She asked with a wide smile. "Just spill it, I don't have all day, I need to get ready." She said and he looked at her strangely.

"Ready for what?" He asked, really curious this time and she smiled widely and told him, because if not him, who else she would tell?

"Well, I have a date tonight."

***W*L*L***

"Hey there, rancher hot buns!" Yelled-whispered Johanna in conspiracy, when Peeta passed the kitchen door in Snow's Manor without taking notice of her.

"Jo! Hey, I'm sorry I didn't notice you!" He replied cheerfully his eyebrows raised so high that she almost laughed at the sight. "Nice nickname! Gale knows you go around hitting on other cowboys?" He asked teasingly and she laughed.

"What Gale doesn't know won't hurt him." She replied with a smile. "Besides, a little harmless flirting never killed nobody, did it?" She asked and winked at him with a smile.

"No, I guess not. You're… cooking?" He asked with surprise, looking at what looked like half of the cupboards content sprawled on the counter tops. She had several cooking books opened around her.

"Well, I thought I'll try to at least." She answered gesturing to the mess around her."  
Sae is sick, Annie is preoccupied with her love life and nobody seems to be noticing that it's almost Christmas!" She exclaimed, looking positively outraged. "I just wanted to bring some Christmas cheer to this hell hole. Who's gonna do it, if not me? The grumpy Kat?" She asked and Peeta laughed wholeheartedly at the pun.

"I don't know but they all should definitely appreciate your effort." Peeta replied with a smile. He leaned over the counter as if he wanted to tell her a big secret. "I can bake and frost some cookies and you can tell them you made them." He said with a wink and this time, she was the one who laughed.

"Thanks for the offer Peeta, but I think even someone without taste buds would be able to tell that it could be only a member of your family that made something so delicious." She replied.

"You're flattering me Jo, is there anything you want or are you just feeling particularly kind today?" He asked making her scoff at him and for the first time since he met Johanna, he could actually see some resemblance between the eldest and the youngest sister. She looked as he'd hurt her feelings for about fifteen seconds but then beckoned him off slightly in conspiracy.

"I've heard it's Katniss' birthday in a couple of days." She said and he nodded. "It's not like I'm overly fond of her or something, but it would be just rude if I got her nothing." She said and he smirked knowingly. Even if both, Katniss and Jo, tried very hard not to show that they cared about each other, everybody knew anyway that they most certainly did. "Do you, maybe, possibly, have any idea what I could get her?" She asked and Peeta sighed loudly at the question.

"Damn if I know… I've been wandering for a month and I still have no idea. Katniss is an incredibly hard person to read when it comes to presents, although she got so little of them in her life that I think she would be happy about everything, even if she didn't overly show it." He replied and stroked the long scar on his chin in deep thought.

"Was it really that bad for her? Leaving with him." She asked, startling Peeta a bit with the question. He sighed and sat on one of the tall chairs.

"It's not like she didn't have anybody who cared for her and loved her. There were always Sae, Haymitch and Gale, but it was hard for her, not only leaving under the same roof with her father, who didn't love her, but also working for him and never, ever hearing a praise from him. I sometimes thought that a random teenager who worked for him for two months during summer time would hear more nice words from him than she ever did," he stated bitterly. "And she put all her heart in this ranch and I knew, I think everyone knew, that all she ever wanted was for him to, for once in her life, tell her she did good." He added, his mood changing to a somber one. Johanna sighed and reached to the fridge for two beers. She handed him one and he thanked with a smile. "I've pretty soon promised myself that, if I ever get the chance, I'll try to spoil her so much, she'll never again feel like she's not good enough for something. It's her first birthday without him, and I'm going to do whatever I can to make it the best one she'd ever had. You know she never got a present from him?" He asked making Jo shake her head in denial. "When she was little, Sae tried to buy things for her and sign them as if they were from him, just to not break her heart, but Katniss was always smart enough to know that it wasn't true. She told us that when she was about six. She literally told us she knew that her father never gave her a present." He added and shook his head, still not quite believing how someone could ignore their own child so much. "I hated that guy, so much." He stated making Johanna chuckle.

"Seems like everybody did," she replied. "Is Katniss still all grumpy about the proposal thing?" She asked curiously making Peeta stop with his bottle half-way to his mouth and look at her strangely.

"What?" He asked, genuinely surprised and Jo looked at him startled.

"Oh shit, she didn't tell you." She mumbled under her breath covering her face like a child who said a foul word for the first time in their life.

"Who didn't tell me what?" He asked.

"Gale's gonna kill me." She whined. "He told me in secret, I wasn't supposed to talk about that with anybody, but I thought you're already past it and…"

"Past what, Jo?" He asked making her wail like an wounded animal.

"I can't tell you! Gale would have my head!"

"What Gale doesn't know won't hurt him, right? What is it Johanna?" He asked again. She wailed, gnawed on her bottom lip with her teeth, let out a frustrated growl, sighed and gave up.

"Oh it's about this damn proposal that our father made to you when she was eighteen. Something about you marrying her, fusing the two ranches and shit…" He raised his eyebrows.

"What about it?" He asked, now really curious.

"Well nothing really, just the fact that she's brainless and she thought that you refused because you didn't like her or something." He knitted his brows in confusion.

"What?"

"She heard the whole thing. When you yelled at Snow and told him some nasty things and then said that he can't force anybody into marrying the person they don't want to and she thought you were talking about yourself. She thought that you were, how did she put it? Disgusted with the idea of marrying her. I don't know, Peeta. Looks like it was all a dumb misunderstanding, that kind of made her be all mad and grumpy in your presence for months on no end," replied Johanna rendering Peeta speechless. "She only a couple of weeks ago told Gale about this whole thing and he kinda laughed in her face and told her she was stupid." She added making Peeta finally look at her with raised eyebrows. "Well he might not put it like that, but that's definitely what I would say in his place," she clarified. Peeta burrowed his face in his hands with a deep sigh.

"I'm the one who's dumb. I could have guessed she heard that and probably misunderstood something." He stated making Johanna roll her eyes.

"No Peeta, it's her own fault. Because of her ignorance, she missed all of the obvious signs that you felt too much for her to ever think like that." She replied and he shook his head.

"If you're putting it like that, then I would blame it on no one other than your lovely father himself," he stated. "With Katniss, it's not that she's ignorant and that she doesn't care or doesn't notice other people's feeling. I think that she just doesn't feel… worthy of other people's attention and affection." He added with remorse. Jo shrugged at that and there was a minute of awkward silence filled only with the dull humming of the fridge.

"Well, the important thing is, that it looks like she's not only finally noticed, but started to act on her own feeling as well, didn't she?" Johanna finally asked and Peeta smiled and blushed a bit at the question. "At least it looks like it. She looks like a kid on Christmas morning every time she sees your lovely face," she added making Peeta laugh.

"She's a piece of work, but thankfully one teat I love working on." He said making a smirk appear on her face.

"Oh, I bet." She replied with a wink and Peeta shook his head with a smile.

"Not like that, Jo. I don't think she's… ready for that step," he stated making the slightly older woman raise an eyebrow at him.

"What's wrong with this girl?" She asked and then suddenly started to look like she just got the greatest idea on the planet. She looked so cartoonish that the only thing Peeta missed in the whole image was a shiny light bulb above her head. He chuckled at the vision.

"That girl needs a real girl night!" Exclaimed Johanna so loudly, that Peeta looked around making sure nobody heard her. "She needs to get out of those filthy cowboy clothes, take care of herself and talk to other girls." She stated making Peeta crook his neck and pucker his lips in thought. "I bet she was never on a real date. She probably screwed a couple of cowboys on a haystack and that's her all experience in those things." She added, making Peeta cringe at the description.

"Well, if it helps anything, I'm taking her on a real date. Tonight." He stated making Johanna's eyes go wide.

"Brainless? On a date?" She asked with a laugh. "Oh, that's gotta be something to see." She added. "Just don't be disappointed if she shows up in jeans and a flannel." She warned, still laughing a bit at the idea.

"I wouldn't be disappointed if she showed up in a habit as long as she shows up at all." He replied.

"Are you picking her up?"

"Mhmmm…" He hummed in answer.

"Then you're in advantage." She replied making him raise his eyebrows. She thought about that for a moment and then waved her hand, dismissing that statement. "You're right, she has a habit of not showing up even at her own house."

***W*L*L***

When he found out earlier that day, that Johanna's brilliant idea for the present for Katniss' birthday was a weekend in SPA he literally laughed in her face. Not because it was a bad idea for a present, just because it was a terrible idea for a present for Katniss and a one, that she would never agree to receive. It appears though, that Jo is as stubborn as her little sister and she assured him she was going to make Katniss agree to spend the weekend away from the ranch. Peeta was very curious to see Johanna try.

He wondered for some time what to wear for the first date with Katniss and after some time decided, that casual, but nice should do. He pushed the front door to the Snow's Manor open, with his heart thumbing loudly in his ears. He scolded himself inwardly for being so nervous about a date. It was just Katniss. Oh, shit, it was THE Katniss.

He was taken-aback, but not really that surprised, when instead of waiting for him, he found her sitting on the couch wrapped into a blanket and staring mindlessly into the fireplace. Maybe she forgot? Maybe she changed her mind? He just hoped it wasn't anything he did. He just hoped she wasn't sick again.

"Well I thought you will be waiting for me and welcoming me with fanfares and stuff…" He teased as he sat at the couch right next to her. She jumped slightly, woken by him form her stupor and her eyes widened at the sight of him.

"Oh, shit Peeta, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I totally…" He shushed her with a gentle noise and laid a long, chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Here, those are for you," he said, presenting her with the exact same looking bouquet of wild flowers as the one he gave her when she was in the hospital. "Now, tell me what's wrong." He added. She took the flowers and burrowed her nose in them.

"Thank you." She replied, giving him a week smile. "Nothing's wrong really…" He stopped her again by palming her cheek. She leaned into his touch.

"Tell me what's wrong, Kitty." He replied gently and run his thumb across her chin. She sighed but gave up.

"It's just… so much," she said looking away from him and into the flames again. "My birthday and Christmas is coming, both of which you know I hate very much, there's killer on the run, Chaff didn't have even one fucking family member who would care that he died and what's more, we didn't even burry him yet and Haymitch already told me today that I should consider hiring someone new." She explained on one breath, visibly agitated by the whole situation. "It's just… why everything is so fucked up?" She asked looking at him and he shrugged sadly at her question and opened his arms for her. She moved into them, involuntarily.

"I can't answer this question," he said as he rested his chin on the top of her head, "but I think I can help you with all the rest you said." He added kissing her hair before letting her go, only to be able to look at her face.

He cleared his throat loudly and made a spectacle of getting into 'all business' position and she laughed softly at that, making him proud of himself that he so easily managed to make her smile. He smiled at her widely, took her hand in his and kissed it gently.

"Katniss," he started bringing his knee up on the couch, just to be able to face her more directly. "I know that you don't like your birthday and Christmas, but… why?" He asked and she opened her mouth to reply, but he didn't let her. "I know why, don't answer that, but look around you now, Kitty. You have a whole lot people to spend your birthday and Christmas with. You could make a party on your birthday and you will get loads of presents. Some of them will be awesome, like mine, some pretty lame, like Haymitch's- seriously, that guy can't buy a proper present for life- and it will be fun. I promise." She smiled a bit but frowned at the idea and he knew it was because she generally wasn't so fond of parties. "Remember Prim's birthday party? You had fun, right?" He asked.

"Yes, but…"

"No, 'buts'" He replied with a shake of his head. "If hers was fun, yours will be even more fun, you know why?" She raised her eyebrows in question. He brought his head near her ear and lowered his voice to a whisper, "because there's going to be alcohol." He stated and she laughed at that.

"Are you sure it's going to be more fun? As far as I know you tend to be awfully chatty when you're drunk. What if you say something that shouldn't be heard?" She asked and he laughed.

"Oh Katniss, please," he said with a head shake." I have a lot of experience and I don't say anything that shouldn't be said." He added making her laugh again. She knew from her very reliable sources, that he was talking all kind of dumb stuff when drunk. Gale and Finn heard a lot of interesting things from him, that he probably didn't mean to say out loud. At least to them. "You Ms. Everdeen on the other hand… I've never seen you drunk and I'm waiting impatiently for this to happen." He added making her snort.

"In your dreams, Mellark. I never get drunk." She replied, unaware of the fact that she just made him want to make it happen even more.

"Moving on to the Christmas thing," he changed the topic suddenly. "I remember you telling me once, that you've always wanted to have a lot of Christmas decorations and things in the house, but your father never agreed to it. Called it silly or something. Well, now it's your damn house and you can do with it whatever you want." He added, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well, technically Annie and Jo have to agree to that." She answered and he raised his eyebrows at that statement.

"Yeah, because they would mind that so terribly." She shrugged and smiled.

"Fair enough." She answered.

"You should decorate this house in every ornament you're able to find in the city!" He exclaimed spreading his arms widely, making her laugh wholeheartedly at the way he looked. "Don't forget to put on mistletoe," he added. "A loooot of it." She smirked at that and stole a short kiss from him.

"I thought I don't need reasoning to kiss you, but if you think I do…" She said in a slightly lowered voice and right before he kissed her, he wondered where the hell she learned how to flirt. She smiled against his kiss and pushed him away teasingly.

"Remember, I'm madly in love, so you can feel free to kiss me whenever you feel like it." He replied, his mood suddenly changed to a serious one and she smiled gently at the honesty in his eyes.

"I know." She stated, put her hand over his and squeezed it. "Thanks, Peeta." She said locking her eyes with his. "I needed that. I needed someone… you, to shake me out of the gloom." She added and he smiled warmly.

"I'm not finished yet!" He exclaimed and she chuckled.

"I thought you wanted to go on that date?" She teased and she marveled at how it made his eyes shine. "If you're still up to it." She added and in answer he placed a kiss on her forehead.

"M'lady," he said proposing her his hand but she shook her head at him.

"I have to change, I'm not going out in this." She stated pointing at her worn out jeans and a flannel.

"You look lovely." He answered checking out her outfit himself and she scoffed at him.

"I look like shit and I'm pretty sure I smell like shit as well." She commented and held her breath, horrified, when he took a step towards her and made a point of dramatically sniffling around her like a dog. She frowned.

"You smell lovely as well," he stated and she shook her head and rolled her eyes at his actions. She couldn't shake the feeling that he looked like an excited puppy, so she decided to instead of being the teased party, be the teasing one this time.

"Sit!" She commanded pointing to the couch and he raised his eyebrows but smiled. "Now stay!" She added with a smirk and he straightened his back and looked at her pleadingly. He did look like a puppy and she was sure that if he had a tail he would wiggle it right now. She laughed. "That's a good boy!" She praised patting his blond head and left the room with a chuckle.

***W*L*L***

Annie startled slightly at the sound of someone knocking persistently at her door and she lifted her head from above her book calling for the intruder to come in. She was surprised when she saw Katniss, hurriedly entering her bedroom.

"Katniss, what is it? Did something happened?" She asked, worried by the strange look on her sister's face and Katniss' evident state of semi undress- she entered Annie's room in Jeans and a bra- and she swiftly raised from her bed in agitation.

"Oh, that's so good that you're home, I would hate to go to Johanna." Commented Katniss and her features relaxed a bit. Annie smiled briefly to herself, noticing that Katniss, for the very first time, referred to the manor as not only her home, but Annie's as well, but she realized quickly that this statement could as easily be a slip caused by whatever distressed Katniss was currently in. "I… I have a… Geeze, I have a clothes emergency, can you help me?" She choked, not sure if she was really able to squeeze the words 'clothes emergency' out of her throat, but she did it, causing Annie's eyebrows to rise slightly. She looked at her little sister with a smirk that looked just a bit too much like Johanna's.

"Oh my God, do you finally have a date with Peeta?" She asked excitedly and watched as Katniss' eyes grew wide.

"W…What? No!" She exclaimed, causing Annie to laugh loudly as she ushered Katniss more deeply into the room, since she stood glued to the door the whole time. "Oh okay, maybe I do." She corrected herself after watching her sister's reaction, but she folded her arms across her chest like a stubborn child anyway, a very characteristic frown gracing her face.

"Oh, come on Katniss," started Annie with a smile, "I'm very happy for you. There's nothing to be ashamed of." She commented and Katniss scoffed under her breath.

"I'm not ashamed, I just don't want to be the talk of the whole ranch." Replied Katniss with a gruff.

"I'm not going to tell anybody, Katniss." Stated the redhead.

"Even Johanna?" She asked doubtfully.

"Yes, even Johanna, if you don't want me to tell her, but believe me Katniss, if the date goes as well as I suspect it would, Peeta is going to be the one who won't be able to shut up about it come tomorrow," commented Annie, causing Katniss to smirk a bit. "Now, how can I help you?" She asked with a grin. Katniss sighed tiredly.

"I just don't have anything… decent to wear." Admitted the young rancher. "I have a couple of dresses, but… I don't want to look too formal. I mean… he showed up in jeans and a nice shirt." She added.

"He's here?" Asked Annie looking around like he was hiding somewhere in the room.  
Katniss rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"He's downstairs. Let's say I kinda forgot about our date…" Annie grimaced at her sister's admission. "But he wasn't angry," she added hurriedly as if in an explanation and Annie smirked and shook her head.

"Of course he wasn't," she commented knowingly. "Well let's at least make it up to him with your outfit."

"Please, don't go overboard." She pleaded, suddenly not so sure if Annie was a better choice than Johanna and Annie smiled gently at her sister's troublesome expression.

"Don't worry, I have a perfect thing."

Somehow she found a white lace bodysuit that fit Katniss just perfectly and she claimed she bought it, but found out it was slightly too small for her. The young rancher felt strange in so much lace, but when she looked into the mirror, she was positively surprised. She looked beautiful. The white color contrasted perfectly with her olive skin and she realized with a startle that she looked sexy.

"Isn't it a bit too much?" She asked, a bit worried but Annie smiled and shook her head.

"You look perfect," she commented. "Peeta won't know what hit him. And who knows… maybe the date will end with a breakfast?" Katniss's eyes widened, as the realization of what her sister said hit her and she scratched her nose in embarrassment.

"Do you think that's what he wants?" She asked shyly and Annie looked at her with a gentle smile.

"I guess that's what every men wants but I think that in Peeta's case he will be perfectly happy with just a peck to the cheek as long as he finally gets to go on that date with you."  
She replied. "Why? Don't you have those kind of feelings for him?" She asked, slightly surprised.

"Well I… I don't know, I guess I do I just… I think I want that… with him, but I just. Damn, I've never done it before, okay?" She choked out and turned slightly red. Annie's expression changed to a bewildered one when she realized the full meaning of her sister's words, but after a brief moment her features softened.

"Oh, Katniss." She said reaching for her sister's hand. "I'm sorry I didn't realize… I'm sorry if I was too crude."

"Don't be silly Annie, I'm not twelve, I know what sex is." Replied Katniss. "I just… I guess I've never met anybody I wanted to do that with and I didn't want to just do it with whoever." She replied making her older sister smile at her proudly.

"That's fantastic Katniss. And very mature." She commented knowingly. "I think that if you ever decide to do that with Peeta, he would be the right person." she added with a slightly dreamy expression. "He loved you since forever, for what I've been hearing, and I think I've come to know him well enough to know that he would act more than like a gentleman towards you." Katniss blushed a bit at her sister's words. "Don't be shy Katniss, show him that you are interested in this, but not yet. Not tonight," she added, brushing her sister's hair out of her eyes. "I think you should also consider telling him." She stated gently, making Katniss look at her with panic. "If he knows he will know how to act around you. It won't be much differently," she added when she noticed Katniss opening her eyes to protest, "he would always treat you with respect, even if you had a thousand partners before, but he would know that you're new to all of this and it's always different for someone inexperienced, even if you think you know perfectly how it all works." She finished, rubbing her sister's arm encouragingly.

Katniss frowned, but nodded and thought about Annie's words. As much as she was embarrassed by it, she figured it would be better for both of them if she told Peeta she'd never had sex before. He will know what to expect of her, which probably is not too much since she has no experience, and she will know that he knows and that would be one stress less.

Only… how was she supposed to say such a thing?

***W*L*L***

"Thank you Peeta." She said with a gentle smile as he helped her put on her coat as they were leaving the restaurant after, what they both considered a very successful date. He smiled back at her.

"No matter how much I love you in this outfit- and I do, believe me, truly- I can't let you go outside like that, you would freeze to death." He commented making her blush a bit at his complement.

"I was thanking you for the lovely evening." She replied with a smirk and he chuckled.

"Well then, it was my pleasure." He replied and she smirked and shook her head. She knew before that Peeta could be flirty and extremely charming, but she's never known that it would have such an effect on her. She started to realize that she got that strange feeling in her chest all the damn time and she suspected, that she was just extremely attracted to not only every part of his personality- she kind of always was- but now also his body. She sighed inwardly as she thought, that she could literally stare at his muscles flexing all day long. Or his perfectly shaped jaw moving while he ate… She wouldn't get bored. She wondered not only what happened to the old Katniss Everdeen, but also, how many women admires him as much as she does and how many women got to touch him before her.

He didn't interrupt her thought's, even if she went suddenly silent, but he laced his hand with hers as he noticed her expression change to a cloudy one. She looked at the sudden action.

"A penny for your thoughts?" He offered in a hushed voice, as if afraid his warm tenor would disturb her. She smiled a bit but shrugged at the question.

"I was just wandering how many girls have you taken on a first date before." She stated before realizing that, without intending to, she sounded accusatory. He raised his eyebrows at her, for a moment looking like he was crossed with her, but then he chuckled and one of the smiles she used to think she hates, appeared on his face.

"I bet a lot less than you imagine," he replied making her look at him skeptically. "I'm rather constant with my feelings, Katniss," he stated bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it sweetly, "but I admit I've had a date or two in my life." He added with a smirk and she snorted. "What?" He asked, surprised by her reaction.

"I know how women look at you, Peeta. I'm not dumb." She replied with a roll of her eyes.

"So…? I don't follow…" he stated, surprised.

"Come on, I know plenty of girls who would want a date with you, not to mention those, that I don't know."

"What makes you think that I would want to date plenty of girls?" He asked and she just shrugged hanging her head down.

"They're pretty." She commented simply and he stopped their walk to the car and placed his hands on her arms, turning her to face him. She refused to look at him and he wandered where the witty, snarky, confident Katniss went. He lifted her chin with his pointing finger.

"Katniss," he started and she lifted her eyes to link with his at the sound of his voice speaking her name. "I have loved you for so long, I can't pinpoint the moment I fell for you anymore." He stated making a faint pink blush appear on her olive cheeks. "But I've had a couple of moments in my life, when I started to doubt if you will ever return my feelings," he added, making her wrap her small hard around the wrist of the hand he still had placed on her chin.

"I'm… sorry." She whispered and he shook his head a couple of times.

"Oh, Katniss don't be sorry. Nobody can make anybody love someone they don't." He said and with her other hand she took a fistful of his shirt and brought his lips towards hers.

His heart almost jumped out of his chest when she sucked lightly on his lower lip and he framed her face with his hands and kissed her like it was the last time he would ever be able to do it. She was breathless and her knees buckled, when he let go of her lips and trailed kisses across her cheek and towards her ear.

"What was that for?" He whispered to her ear and she sighed when he gently nipped on her earlobe. He let go when he realized she was too far gone to manage a coherent replay. She took a deep, shuddering breath and opened her eyes to look into his ocean-blue ones. He had this dreamy expression, that she was sure he could find on her face as well.

"When I was eighteen and rather stupid, you said a very similar thing to my father, right after he wanted to make a deal with you that involved our fixed marriage." She said and his eyes widened a bit. "Yeah, I've heard the whole thing," she added with a grimace. "I'm sorry he treated you like that. And I'm sorry how I treated you. Back then I thought that you just didn't want me. That you were disgusted with the idea of marrying me and that you were talking about yourself when you told my father that he can't force anybody to marry someone they don't want. I was a fool, but… the fact that I saw you kissing some girl about two weeks later didn't help things." She stated and watched as realization downed on him slowly. "I started to be an asshole to you and now I know that it was because I've always had feelings for you too." She added with a small smile. "I've started to see how other girls look at you and you are always friendly and even a bit flirty and I just thought you suddenly turned into a womanizer." She said with a smirk making him chuckle. "Only a couple of weeks ago, I realized my own stupidity, my ignorance and I know now that, that day, you were talking about me, not you. You loved me. You could have agreed to it and we would probably be married by now," she added but he shook his head with a frown. "But you are Peeta Mellark and Peeta Mellark always thinks of others first and then pays for it with the consequences." She palmed his cheek and run her thumb along the thin scar on his chin. The one his mother gave him when he stepped in front of his older brother, wanting to prevent him from getting hit with a frying pan. "I'm not very good with words," she started again, "but I guess what I wanted to say, is that you're awesome Peeta Mellark." She said still stoking his chin. "And I'm very lucky to be loved by you. That's what the kiss was for." She finished and gasped when he claimed her freezing lips. He kissed her leisurely and she gasped contently against him. If somebody had told her only mare week before, that she will be standing in front of a fancy restaurant caught into a lip lock with Peeta Mellark and actually enjoy it, she would laugh in their face. She never thought she would fall for anybody, but she did and she fell deep.

***W*L*L***

"What do you think they are doing right now?" Asked Johanna with a big dose of excitement as she stroked Gale's chest after, what she considered, one of the most mind-blowing sexual encounters she experienced in her life.

"Please, don't talk about my sister… our sister, when you are in bed with me. That's just wrong." Stated Gale grimacing a bit at the topic. Jo laughed loudly and lightly kissed her boyfriend's chest.

"Aren't you curious though? Don't you wanna know what they're doing?"

"I definitely don't want to know what they are doing." He replied with distaste. "Seriously Jo…"

"What? I hope they're having sex right now. The tension is unbearable!" Exclaimed Johanna making Gale grimace.

"Whatever you do Jo, please… I don't want to think about my baby sister banging some guy… even if that guy is my best friend and one of the most decent people I've ever met." He pleaded making the busty blonde roll her eyes at his behavior.

"You're hilarious Hawthorne. Well, if you don't want to believe they're going at it like a pair of rabbits right now, you have to wish your best friend is much more well-mannered than you are."

***W*L*L***

"What are you doing?" Asked Katniss when she noticed Peeta pulling over in the middle of the woods. "Do you want to kill me here?" She asked jokingly and he smirked at her and winked right before opening his door.

"Nah… now that you actually agreed to date me, I don't feel a need to do that." He replied with a grin and she followed him to the trunk. She jumped slightly when he moved a blanket and uncovered a big chainsaw. He smirked at her startle. "I promised I won't kill you." He joked and kissed the top of her head while reaching for the tool. She chuckled a bit.

"So… why are we here?" She asked making him smile.

"Let's see… we're in the woods, we have a chainsaw… I'm pretty sure we're gonna cut a tree! Or maybe two," he stated starting to walk deeper among the trees.

"A tree?"

"A tree."

"What tree?" She asked, now totally confused.

"A Christmas tree, silly. What different tree would we need?" He asked and she stopped a bit looking at him with a mix of amusement and admiration.

"Did you plan this?" She asked, not really believing that he knew what they were going to talk about when he first arrived at the house. He chuckled loudly.

"Nope… well, I kinda did fifteen minutes ago." He replied with a smirk. "I remembered I've had the chainsaw in my car since I went to help the McGregors' with a tree that had fallen on their barn after the last storm." Katniss smiled at him and then sighed loudly. "Is that not ok?" He asked, worried that this wasn't such a great idea after all. Katniss shook form the slight gloom and shook her head in denial.

"I love the idea." She replied with a smile. He smiled back.

"You don't have to tell me what's wrong if you don't want to, but I just want you to know, that you can tell me whatever you feel comfortable with." He said and she sighed, slightly annoyed at the fact that he could read her so easily.

"It's just that… speaking of McGregors, Haymitch talked to me today about hiring somebody in Chaff's place and… he mentioned Tresh McGregor." She confessed, making Peeta hum under his breath. She wandered what was he thinking about. "I was pissed at Haymitch for even thinking about replacing Chaff so soon, but… we need more hands, Peeta and Tresh and the ranch… we can help each other. You know how they struggle with money." She said making the young rancher nod. "But to replace Chaff so soon… Am I an awful person?" She asked suddenly making him stop dead in his tracks. He chuckled at the question.

"I'm pretty sure you're the last person that anyone on this world could call awful, Kitty." He stated with amusement. "Where do you ever get those ideas from? Really…" He asked with a chuckle.

"You make me look like I'm a saint or something… you should know firsthand that I can be pretty awful." She replied and he snorted.

"You can be sarcastic, snarky and too witty for your own good, but never awful, Kat." He added. "I know it's hard to think of it while Chaff just passed away, but it will be a good decision Kitty. Thresh maybe isn't a born rancher, but he's a clever guy with his head firmly on his shoulders. He will catch up on anything soon enough. And they really do need the money. Since their father passed away I know they have a very hard situation. Prim invited Rue over all the time not only because they're best friends, but also because it's easy to get some food into her that way. The girl starts to look like a shadow." He commented and Katniss sighed loudly.

"You're right… I have a job to give and I have a good candidate. It's the only reasonable decision." She answered. The fact that Peeta thought that it was okay to hire someone new so soon, really eased her mind. She thought about the irony of it all. She hated the fact that her father named him the supervisor, but now, she was willingly asking him for his opinion, not even thinking of the fact that technically, she should.

"Look, so many perfect evergreens. You want to pick one?" He asked changing the hard topic to a happy one, making her smile widely.

"There was always a lot of beautiful evergreens on Snow Rocks. That's something I always liked about this place." He hummed again in response and she smiled, thinking that she liked that sound.

"You know I was thinking… now that there's really no Snow on the ranch, maybe you and your sisters should think of changing the name to something else?" He said and she laughed at the idea.

"Oh, oh… like what?" She asked caressing the branch of one particularly pretty tree. She considered choosing that one, but she decided it was too pretty to cut it.

"How about… Everdeen's Evergreens?" He advised making her laugh so hard, she startled a couple of birds and probably some wild animals as well.

"Oh yeah… because that's gonna happen." She replied still laughing. He shrugged with a grin.

"I think it's great. Your ranch does have beautiful evergreens, but most importantly, it has a really beautiful Everdeen." He stated and she shook her head at his cheesiness.

"Shut up and cut me a tree, Mellark." She stated pointing to one that stood a couple of feet away from them. He chuckled and kissed her forehead sweetly.

"As you wish."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Bet y'all thought I abandoned the story, ha? No I didn't, but it keeps getting harder to write as I keep having less and less time for it :(  
> I do want to finish the story though, since this is my favorite one so far and I'm very determinated. I would love to know if you feel the same way about it. Let me know if I should keep writing.
> 
> So... this chapter.... sorry for all the fluff! :) I felt like after everything that was happening in Snow Rocks, everyone needs a little break, don't you think?  
> So? How did you like it? Reviews and kudos always welcome :)


End file.
